Life After Eva
by Chewie
Summary: Shinji and Asuka, being the last humans alive, must fend for themselves, and make a new life.
1. DAY 1

**Life After Eva**

Before I get started, this is the beginning of the revision of Life After Eva. I am still doing new chapters at the time of this revision, but I thought that I would take Dennisuds revised chapters and make my changes and then post them. Thanks again Dennis. It may take me a while to get them all out, but I think that you will be pleased with the final product. I have added a little here and taken some there to get my points across more concisely. I still have not thought of a good answer to the whole wrong timeframe deal. I think that I will just leave that where it is, and say screw it. I have finally found a direction that I want to follow with this story. Originally I thought that it would be cool for the two pilots to travel, and then I decided that it should be post Third Impact, and things started sprouting off of that. Love, improvising a life, etc. But now with a new direction I think that I will have a better story all around. Wish me luck, and I hope that you enjoy my story. Hopefully being so far away from home will help to. I have found that I get more out of my own writing when I am depressed. The more depressed the better. In fact, "Where Are You Now?" and "A Night on the Balcony" (two of my favorites) were written when I was probably at my lowest ebb. Anyhow, enough of that, lets start this tale over again!

**DAY 1**

"I feel sick."

Shinji let his hands slide off of the girl's neck, and leaned on them, letting sand creep through his fingers. Asuka just stared at him, waiting for him to finish. The boy cried as he slowly came to grips with the situation he was in. Alone, save for the only person who really knew him at all, and witness to the end of life, as it was known on Earth. The yellow waves washed up against the white sand and retracted back into the sea.

He rolled off of her, and lay with his back to her. She lay there watching the sky, wondering at the bewildering turn that things had taken. A day before she had battled and beaten nine Eva Mass Production Model combat units by herself. Today she was lying on the beach, her arm nearly split open, her left eye injured, and "saved" by Shinji once again.

She hated him.

She had been ready for her death after she had fallen to those ugly-faced MP-Evas. She would have welcomed it. She had remembered being a part of hundreds, thousands, millions of others, knowing their thoughts, and feeling what they felt. She unconsciously flexed her hands into fists, and fire ran up the inside of her left arm. Gasping at the pain, she let it hurt. Pain was at least a proof that you were still alive. And what did not kill you ... Did it really make you stronger? That had yet to be seen.

She closed her eyes, and listened to the waves. Surprisingly, her arm stopped hurting again in the next few minutes, and she drifted to sleep. In her dreams she relived the Third Impact again. It was in a way beautiful, as well as horrible, yet it was also peaceful at the same time. But she was still terrified. The savage reaping of human lives and screams (Where they screams? Or laughter? Or cheering?) as bodies lost cohesion and souls were drawn to the colossal figure that rose from the Earth. The veritable ocean of blood that sprayed from the neck of the person she had known as Rei.

Later on, she awoke again. Shinji was gone from her side. In his place was a stack of wood. Night was falling, and it was starting to get chilly. Grunting she rolled onto her side, and used her good arm to unsteadily prop herself up. It was then that she saw Shinji making his way towards her, carrying a box, and wearing a heavy looking hiking backpack. As he drew closer she saw that he was looking pale, sweating, and breathing heavily. Setting his things down, he looked over at her, and furrowed his eyebrows.

"I didn't mean to leave you alone, Asuka. I just… went to get some things to help us make it through tonight." He turned away so that he would not have to look at her scowl at him. She still had not said anything to him but those three words. He busied himself with starting the fire ignoring his feelings of hurt and anguish, and set up two small tents. He also pulled out a couple of sleeping bags, some packages of what looked like food of some kind, some clean clothes for both himself and Asuka, and some medical supplies.

As darkness set in, the moon's pale light reflected the area around them in a light bluish hue. The new red streak splashed tightly across the sky shown brightly in contrast to the normal sky's deep blue background, illuminating the light terrain around them. Surrounding the moon was also a small halo of red where blood had splashed with enough force to be ejected back off the surface. The light from the fire cast streaky shadows along the sand.

Shinji dug into the box with the food in it, and produced some store bought fish. Undoubtedly the power had gone off not too long ago and the freezers were still able to hold some of the heat out. He placed the fillets on a spit and directed them over the fire. He took some large potatoes and wrapped them in foil, and put them in the fire. He also produced a canteen cup and poured some water in it, and set it just inside the fire to boil.

Asuka was amazed at this. She couldn't believe that Shinji knew anything about camping. Of course she supposed that when it really came down to it, it was simple common sense and improvising. Adapt, improvise and overcome. She sat and watched the fire, moving a little closer to collect some of the heat. While the food was cooking, he broke out some of the medical supplies and slowly moved closer to her. As he neared she drew away sharply.

"I had better look at those wounds Asuka. We need to make sure they heal properly." He watched her frown, and she eyed him for a moment. He just looked at her, waiting for her to allow him to treat her.

"It better not hurt much, or I'll clobber you Third Child." She glared at him unconvincingly. Secretly, even to herself, she was grateful for the help, for all that he had done so far, but she could never allow Shinji to know that.

Shinji then carefully unwrapped her arm, and inspected the wound running down the length of her arm. A deep gash ran down the outside length of her arm. The bandages had been doing a good job of holding it together, but if it was going to heal properly, it would need some stitches. Until he could get some anesthetic, a needle and some sutures, the bandages would have to do. Taking a cloth, and pouring some clean water on it, he wiped away the caked blood and clot. Then with a bottle of hydrogen peroxide, he doused the entire length of the wound, and let it foam, wiping away the excess when it was done. Asuka tensed at this; the burning sensation was very sudden and intense. Next he put some antibiotic ointment on, and re-wrapped the wound with bandage after applying a thick gauze strip directly over the wound.

Next he treated the eye wound. Shinji hoped that it was not really bad. Especially something that would leave her without the use of that eye. He had always liked her eyes, not that he would ever tell her that. She definitely would clobber him for sure for saying it.

Carefully removing the pad and tape, he saw that the wound was not directly to the eyeball, but more to the bottom of the eye socket. Directly under the eye the skin had been pierced. So long as the bone had not been broken, the lining of the eye socket torn or the optic nerve damaged it would be OK. It did not look too serious but he figured it would be best to leave the area covered for the time being, so he cleaned and dressed it again, then re-taped it. Asuka flinched several times and even lifted her arm to take a swing at Shinji, but she held off knowing he was just doing this to help her. So she bared the pain some more as he finished treating her.

By this time the water was boiling, and the fish and potato was just about done. Carefully pulling the water off, Shinji produced a box of instant rice. He had wished that he could have found some of the good stuff, not the name brand rice, but it would do. Dumping it into the water, he turned his attention to the other food. He set the fish on a rock, and unwrapped the potatoes to let them cool off.

As the meat and potatoes cooled, and The Former Third Child strained the rice out of the water. He put the food on two paper plates and handed Asuka hers. They ate in silence. Shinji was thankful for that. He needed time to think some things over. They both did. What would happen now? What was their purpose now?

Asuka finished first, and sat back against a large piece of driftwood that Shinji had hauled close to the fire. "Shinji?"

"Mmph?" His voice muffled through his food.

"Why did you bring me back here?" She gave him a flat stare.

"What do you mean Asuka? I didn't really..." She cut him off.

"You brought me back here!" She said accusingly. "You brought me back to this... this life, this world!" she said disgustedly. She paused, then sighed shaking her head. "I was ready to die Shinji, and you took it from me!" Tears welled in her eyes, and threatened to run down her cheeks, but she wiped them away with the back of her good hand, and looked angrily at Shinji.

"But, Asuka. I did nothing to bring you back. I was just as surprised to see you as you were when I woke up. You were not supposed to be there. I just wanted a world where no one would hurt me. And I was willing to be alone if that was what it took."

"Well how the hell do you explain the fact that I am here? Hmm? You can bet that I will hurt you sooner or later." She glared at him. "And don't you even say that it is because of my strength of will or something equally stupid! I am no more or less deserving than anyone else in the world. How do you explain it?" She let the question hang, waiting for an answer.

Shinji thought about it for a while, then remembered … 'mother'. He looked up intently and spoke. "Eva protected you."

That set her back. "Eva? Momma? Protected me even then?"

At the mention of her mother, Shinji perked up. There was a connection between her mother and Eva … just like him? He had only known pieces of her past. From what he knew her mother had worked on the Eva project in Germany. She had died somehow when Asuka was very young. Asuka did not talk about her much. He could understand how it was a sensitive subject.

Shinji drew his knees up and laid his head on them watching the waves. They were both quiet for half an hour, when Shinji broke the silence. Softly he spoke, haltingly at first, then gradually with more conviction. "My mother was in Eva. I that that is the only reason I survived. I know it is the only reason I survived. She killed several Angels for me. And I think… I think she even brought me back once. I remember almost feeling something… familiar… when I was in the entry plug."

Asuka could see only part of his face in the firelight, and she saw that he was crying quiet tears. Shinji was quiet again now, but she could see that he still had something he wanted to say.

"I saw her die, Asuka. I remembered it a while back. I was in the control room above Unit 01's cage, and she was standing on the catwalk wearing a solid white plug suit. For a long time I had no real memories of her. I could not remember what she looked like, but I remember this. She was beautiful. She waved at me, and she was smiling." He took a shuddering breath. "They had an entry plug kind of like ours that she got into, then it was loaded into Unit 01. And then everything was red and there were sirens going off and people shouting and running everywhere. And she was gone. But she was smiling. And she was with me. With me the whole time. She was in Eva."

Asuka eyed Shinji, absorbing this news. He had never really had the chance to come to grips with his past because he did not know it himself, nor how to deal with it.

Shinji sat back, and sighed, thinking over things. "You know when I was… gone for a month?" He sipped at his water. "Ritsuko debriefed me after that, and explained some of the background behind the A.T. Field. I had never really known what it stood for. I had never even bothered to ask. But according to her, A.T. Field stands for Absolute Terror Field. The term is taken from psychology, and it is a theory that certain traumatic events can cause someone to block out all or part of that event as they choose to because it is so terrible. It is as though it never existed. In the Evas case, it refers to an energy field that living beings give off. She only explained about humans, Angels, and Evas. So I don't know if it is something animals and plants and other living things have. Anyhow, she said that we produce these fields, and that basically it was like a force field for humans that separates our minds from others, and holds our body's cohesion together. For Angels and for Evas when they are piloted, it not only does that but it can be used as a protective shield and a weapon."

Asuka listened, never having delved into the ideas behind it this way. Though her University schooling was beginning to help her understand.

"Evas are like an empty body that has no mind or soul, so the pilot has to share their mind with it, which means that when synching with the Eva, part of your own AT Field is borrowed by the Eva. That allows you to feel it's feelings, and you control it using your thought. Ritsuko's mother had notes about that stuff. They hinted that somehow my mothers AT Field had totally eroded, and so her body had dissolved allowing her mind to occupy the Eva's core. I don't know exactly what that means. She never took complete control over it. I mean she could have spoken through it or something right? She could have moved it around or something. I did not catch everything that Ritsuko explained to me. And I am sure she did not tell me everything either." Shinji let it end with that. He had spoken to Asuka more tonight than he had in any one sitting before.

Asuka looked at him with an uncertain look on her face. "Well maybe that would account for my being here. But the next question is what do we do now? So here we are? But why, and for what purpose?"

"I don't know. Right now I don't know what to think. I just want to rest and regroup what is left of me." He eyed the tent that he had decided was his.

She saw where he was looking. "Goodnight Shinji." She almost sounded nice. "Don't even think about coming over to my tent, you perv." In the blink of an eye her tone changed, and now she was the "Old Asuka" once more. Shinji inwardly smiled. He was glad to see her back, even for a few minutes.

With some difficulty she stood, and refusing Shinji's help, she walked to her tent, and climbed in, letting out a grunt of pain. After zipping up the door, Shinji heard some rustling, and realizing that she was taking the remnants of her plug suit off. He blushed imagining her there.

"Asuka? There is some soap in there, if you want to go bathe, there's a public bath still intact down that way, but with cold water. I … I promise I won't peek or anything. It's just so you don't have to be caked in old LCL."

There was no response so he picked up the leftovers. Dumped the rest of the boiled water out, and cleaned the place up as the fire died down. He scooped the embers all together, and put a couple of logs on it, then went to his tent as well. He lay awake for quite some time mulling over everything. The feeling of loss was overwhelming. In one day he had lost Misato, the people he knew at NERV, and all of his friends, everyone he would never know, everyone except Asuka. But, while they were not actually with him, he knew that they were out there somewhere. Heaven he supposed. He guessed that was what the whole Eva thing was all about.

Outside he heard the zipper on Asuka's tent door, and for just a moment, he thought she would come over to his tent and tease him or make fun of him. When she never came, he relaxed, comfortable in the knowledge that she had taken the chance to bathe. As the blush crept back in, he smiled, yawned and rolled over to try and sleep. After a while, Asuka padded back past his tent, and entered hers, and after some more thought provoking rustling...

"Shinji! How the hell did you know my bra size!?" He should have thought this was going to happen.

Shinji almost choked. "Asuka, I have been doing your laundry since you moved in to our apartment."

"Oh … Well you still are a perverted little boy." She sounded almost like she was smiling when she said it. With that he shook his head and finally fell asleep....


	2. DAY 4

**Life After Eva**

Ok, here is the second chapter, revised. I think I fixed all of the misspellings and some continuity errors and such. Catch you all later.

**DAY 4**

Shinji slowly swam toward consciousness. The smells of morning and the sounds of the ocean came to him, pulling him inevitably to open his eyes. Well sort of open them. Or squinted. Let's face it he closed them again, and covered up, denying the world for a few more minutes.

After a terrible fight with reality, he finally lost, and was forced to wake up fully. He dressed, and exited his tent. They had been on the beach for nearly a week. The night before, they had decided it was time to go see to doing something about her arm. Asuka was still asleep, or at least that was what he figured. She usually slept later than he did. The fire was almost dead; it still have a few glowing embers. Shinji decided that this morning it would be best if they did not eat. He did not want either of them getting sick, and he had heard somewhere that anesthetics could make you sick if you had a full stomach. Shoveling some sand on it did the trick. He sat against the log, admiring the last of the sunrise.

Within a few minutes, Asuka was up too, awakened by Shinji's movements. She looked bad. Her uncovered eye had dark baggy flesh under it, and she squinted against the light. She also lost her balance several times. She was still really tired as her injuries had not helped her rest.

The car that he had liberated a few days ago was still there, waiting for them. It was a yellow little piece of crap that got 50 miles to the gallon, which was the only good thing about it. Shinji had a bit of difficulty driving it due to the fact that he had never been taught to drive a car with manual transmission. So, here he was. An Eva pilot. He could pilot a million pounds of Evangelion all over the city, and yet he could hardly get this car going to save his life. So with the possibility of adding whiplash to their ailments the two made their way to the closest local clinic or hospital.

When they finally got on their way it was easy sailing from there. He followed the hospital signs around until he finally came to what was left of one of the six Tokyo-3 hospitals. The parking lot was empty. It was not really that surprising. There most likely hadn't been anyone admitted to the hospital since Unit 00 detonated, almost totally destroying the city. Fortunately this was far enough from the city center to have survived both that, and the N2 bomb drop. Shinji parked the car, and jumped out. "Wait here for a second."

He disappeared into the hospital for a few moments, and came running back out with a wheelchair.

"Hey! I am not getting in that! I can walk. It's not like I am paralyzed or something." She opened the door, and stood up defiantly.

"Uh-uh.. You are about to be operated on by me, I think you need to be pampered in your last moments." Shinji had a cross between a smile, and a smirk as Asuka gasped!

"That is not funny. I am already really nervous about this. I mean you don't even know what you are doing." She really did look worried now, but she and Shinji both knew that there was nothing that could be done about it. This had to be done or Asuka might not recover.

Trying to calm her, Shinji said to her, "Asuka there is not much to it, really. I have just got to get in there, and make sure that it is healing OK, and that it is clean and not infected, then all I'll do is sew it up. That's all. And you can't do that by yourself. Trust me. If I encounter something that I can't deal with, I will stop there, and seek your advice, OK?"

Asuka sighed. "Yeah, whatever." She sat in the wheelchair, and triumphantly, Shinji wheeled her over to the door. "Hey Baka, just make sure you use the right amount of anesthetic, OK?" Shinji nodded and wheeled her out.

Since the electricity was off, they couldn't do this inside. So Shinji brought a gurney out, and a couple of medical books. He had come the day before, and gotten some things ready.

He perused the anesethists book, and ran back inside for a quick shopping trip to the hospital's pharmacy. He went to the walk in refrigerator, which was still pretty cold despite the prolonged power loss.

When he returned, Asuka had laid on the gurney, and was breathing deeply. Shinji produced an IV bag, and a needle/catheter. While they had been in the "employ" of NERV, they had both been introduced to basic first aid and lifesaving procedures. He prepared her vein, and stuck her with ease. Fortunately Asuka had good veins that stayed close to the surface. He saw the flash, pushed the catheter in, and pulled the needle. Soon she was getting a good drip of Ringers. Producing the bottle of local, he injected several C.C.s of it into the bag, and slowed the flow down a little.

"Ok, now give this stuff a minute to start working. You will be awake, but you won't feel anything. If you don't want to watch, turn the other way." Shinji put his hand against her forehead. She was being incredibly brave. He was totally unskilled for what he was doing, and yet she was putting at least her arm if not her life in his hands. He smiled inwardly at the boost in his confidence.

The work was messy. When the bandage wraps were off, he slowly pulled the wound open, and began separating the sides of the wound. There was a little bleeding. Asuka did not even wince. She felt nothing at all in her arm. Calmly she watched the operation proceed, almost like a third person watching someone else being operated on.

Using a couple of instruments that he did not know the names of, he pulled the skin apart, and started cleaning away some of the blood clots. There was a little evidence of infection, but nothing really serious. According to the text he could give her some of the listed penicillin derivatives and it would take care of most common infections. The other medical text described gangrenous infection and other life threatening infections, but no evidence of those were present, so after some more work, Shinji carefully started stitching the wound up. A hundred or so small stitches later, he tied off the suture, and cleaned up the area surrounding the wound. Asuka smiled up at him after he pulled off the gloves, and wiped his sweaty brow.

Now his hands started to shake as he put his supplies and bloodied instruments away.

"That went better than I expected. According to this book, for how deep that is, it should be healed enough to be workable in about 3 weeks. Let me dress that again and I think that will be it."

He applied some antibiotic ointment, and then wrapped it snugly in gauze, and wrapped that with bandage. "It also says that the suture will dissolve in time, so there is no need to cut and pull it out. Now let's look at that eye."

After lifting the pad over the eye, Shinji found that the eye itself was starting to clear up the bruise that the sudden trauma just under it had caused. Also slightly infected, he daubed a little antibiotic on that as well, and put a new pad over it. Once done he carefully extracted the catheter and put a cotton swab over the little needle hole.

"All right Ms. Soryu, you are free to go. Please stop by the receptionists desk on the way out." While Shinji cleaned up the work area, Asuka grumbled about how he seemed to always have something funny to say recently. Maybe it was his sudden new lease on life. Whatever it was, it at least made him slightly more tolerable.

"OK, now I want something to eat. I don't know about you, but I am pretty hungry." Asuka stated loudly so that Shinji who was ferrying supplies back into the hospital would hear her. She did not even know why he was bothering with putting the supplies away.

" I was thinking about finding a permanent shelter, like an undamaged house somewhere, and kind of taking it over. The previous owners won't mind, since we have to get out of those tents. It was ok for the first couple of days, but now we need to figure out what we want to do." Shinji blinked as he stepped back into the sun.

"Well, I think we need to get away from this area. I can't stand to look out over the water, and see those white monsters or that hideous head over on the horizon. Of course I don't even know where I want to go."

"Well we can figure it out. There is a map in the back seat of the car, we can check it out. But first, I think you are right, we need food." As if to accentuate his point, his stomach chose that moment to growl menacingly. A light blush raced across his face.

It was now late morning so breakfast would still be good. Unfortunately raw materials for food were in very short supply now. They would have to live on store bought instant stuff for a while.

There were a few small convenience stores close by. They entered the first one, and were almost knocked down by the intense rotten stench issuing from the freezers in the back. Holding his nose, Shinji made his way further inside, and brought back some instant Miso soup, and some large packages of ramen.

"I am afraid this was all I could grab. I guess it will have to do." They made their way back to their campsite, and while Shinji rebuilt the fire, Asuka poured over the map.

Soon they each had a steaming bowl of miso, and a hot serving of fish ramen. But they were no closer to figuring out where to go.

"We could go to Aomori or Hirosaki. I hear that it is beautiful in the "springtime". The cherry trees still bloom and they have some wonderful apples." Asuka offered.

"Never had Aomori apples before." He said.

"Oh, man, Hikari brought one in her lunch one day. It was huge. And bursting with juice. So sweet, and delicious. Mmmmm." She guestured with her hands showing a shape about the size of a softball.

"I don't know. Somehow even being only a few hundred miles away, the climate is so much different there. It still snows in the winter time, too cold for my taste. We could visit there or something and get some apples if you like though." Shinji was just finishing his ramen. For being instant stuff it was alright.

"Hmm. We could go to Okayama. I heard it's nice."

"It is. I got to go there a few years ago. Mountains, cool pristine valleys, and close to the water. Want to go there?" It was as good a place as any climate wise, and there were a lot of nice homes and farmland around that area.

"Yeah! Say, wasn't that show.. what was it called? Tenchi Muyo! Wasn't the Masaki Shrine near there?"

"Umm, close to there I think. I liked Tenchi. I don't know what I would do with six women living with, and wanting to be with me either."

"Well if the area is anything like the show, I think it will be a perfect place to live."

They finished up their meals (what there was of it) while finalizing plans. They could take the highways most of the way there. Shinji carefully packed up all of the gear that they had amassed over the last couple of days, and dumped it in the back of the car. He was slowly getting the hang of driving the stick shift.

Asuka helped as well as she could, and soon they were done. With a backward glance, they left the beach, and it was only early afternoon. Unfortunately, on the way out of what was left of Tokyo-3 they realized that the going was not going to be as easy as they had first thought. When the occupants of the vehicles on the road during Third Impact were taken, their vehicles came to a crashing, violent stop, and they littered the road on both sides, nearly obstructing the whole road in some places.

"You know, I think we may have to figure something else out. This car is not going to make it through all this wreckage, and if it gets any worse, we won't make it out of here. We need something smaller." Shinji stated as he swerved around another burnt out wreck.

"Well, we can stop in Gotenba right up here, and figure something out. How about bicycles?" She offered.

"No, not if we want to get there this year. Besides we have to bring supplies, and I don't really feel like pedaling up all those hills."

Then the redhead had an idea. "How about motorcycles?" Asuka brightened. She liked the sound of that. She had often wanted to ride one.

"I have never tried that before." He said, and catching the almost frustrated reaction from Asuka, he added, "But there is not time like the present to try!"

"Yeah, that's what I thought you were going to say. Shinji, are you sure about this?" A look of concern and excitement combined on her face.

"Well I think it is a good idea. It may also be the only way. We can't drive anything big, but we have to have something powerful, yet maneuverable. And besides, there is nothing wrong with knowing a little something about nearly everything. I had never really felt like doing something new before. But today, I get to." Asuka nodded, hoping that Shinji's positive outlook would hold up.

35 wrecks later they approached the outskirts of the city of Gotenba, and started looking for a place to pilfer some motorcycles. At first all they could find were real speed bikes. "Crotch-rockets" Asuka called them. That would not do. The needed something that could hold their gear, and that they could cruise around in. Not something built to pull the paint off of cars when it passed them.

After an hour of looking, they finally located some motorcycles that would suit their needs. The owner must have really liked the Indian motorcycle. After looking through the house and garage, they found 7 motorcycles of different types. 5 were whole, and two were partially taken apart. It looked almost as though he had been polishing a part when he had been taken.

Fortunately he was meticulous with his motorcycles; they were in perfect shape. He did not collect them just to look at them. They were gassed and ready to go. He also had all sorts of stuff with them. They found manuals, picture books of various Indian cycles, a helmet for each. Every bike also had saddlebags. Shinji and Asuka looked though them all trying to figure out which ones the might want to take. Shinji picked out one that the manual identified as a 1947 Indian Chief. It was old, but it was very well taken care of. It looked new. The one on the cover was blue, but this one was painted jet black, and had pin-striping flowing along its gentle curves. Everything about it looked brand new. Even the Indian head light on the front fender and the black leather saddlebags with zinc studs hanging on either side of the seat.

"You sure you are going to be alright to handle one, Asuka? These look like powerful machines." Not taking his eyes off of the motorcycle.

"You automatically think that you will be able to handle it, Shinji? Yeah I think I can manage. I can use my arm well enough, just nothing strenuous." She walked over to a newer cycle. It's accompanying manual was much newer and identified it as a 2000 Indian Chief Vintage. The deep red paintjob showed her reflection, and looking closely she could see tiny lines that upon even closer inspection she saw was painted wood grain. It was custom. "Wow."

"I really don't want to mess up such a nice motorcycle trying to learn how to ride it. Want to start out on some of those others we saw on our way here? We can mess them up without feeling so guilty." Shinji nodded his head outside.

"Yeah I agree. I have never really appreciated how beautiful one might be."

They exited the garage, and drove back along the road a ways and found a couple Kawasaki crotch-rockets and set about figuring them out.

Since the motorcycle that Shinji had picked out did not have an electric ignition on it, he was sure that he would have to get used to kick starting it. The first time he tried it, he didn't keep his foot on the kick start in the follow through, and it sprang back and nearly broke his shin. The pain was excruciating, but it was a lesson well learned. Don't do that again. Plus, Asuka teased him enough for him not to forget.

After a few more tries, the engine even turned over, and sputtered a bit, and one more hearty kick got it going for real. Retracting the kick stand, he focused on the transmission control. It was on the handlebars, not on a gear shift lever like on the bike he had picked out. Well he would have to figure that one out himself. The manual could help too.

Shifting from neutral to first, he slowly let off of the clutch, and gave it a little gas, and was surprised by the initial jump forward, but after that, the motorcycle crept away from it's parking spot, and he slowly gave it more gas, pulling his feet up to the stirrups. He let off of the gas, and hit the clutch and let the bike come back to a stop, allowing it to idle while he looked back to Asuka.

Hers was an electric ignition, so she hit the ignition button, and she was rewarded with a deep slow rumble. She mimicked Shinji's movements, and jerk- rode hers up to where he was waiting, then passed him, and began to speed up. So long as she did not flex her left arm too much it only had a dull ache.

The road was a nice straight one with no cars wrecked on it, so they could practice and grow used to the motorcycles in relative safety.

Shinji, opened his up, and sped up to catch up with Asuka who was reaching the high end of first gear by now. She hit the clutch, shifted right into second gear, released and put more gas on it. Shinji tried to do, ground some gears, then shifted into third a little better. He found riding was much easier than he had originally thought it would be. With a little more work, he could be relatively certain they would have no trouble with the collector's bikes.

Nearing the end of the road, they slowed down almost to a stop, and turned around, heading back the other way, testing the speed this time. Shinji was still amazed of the power in the little vehicle. Just a little gas went a long way.

They rode around the area for another half-hour or so, before coming back to the starting point. Shinji's side's hurt. The bouncing action on a nearby gravel road had really hurt his back. It felt like he had been kidney punched. Getting off the bike, the pain went away with a little walking around, and stretching. Asuka parked hers beside him, and got off of hers as well.

The darkening sky was threatening nightfall, so they decided to call it quits on the motorcycles, and found a place to camp. Neither really felt good about occupying someone's house. Especially not sleeping in their bed.

Shinji fixed dinner on a propane camp stove that he had liberated from someone's shed, and they watched the stars come out sporting full stomachs and heads full of thought. The day had been eventful. Shinji had enjoyed it. He supposed that he had never allowed his adventuring spirit out. This was an adventure. A Great Adventure. And despite the things that he had witnessed recently, he was enjoying himself thoroughly. Perhaps this was the freedom that he had wanted. Semi-freedom. Freedom from other peoples rules. Freedom from the problems of a hundred societies trying to get along. Freedom from those who wanted more power.

With no lights on to give off light pollution, they marveled at the millions upon billions of stars that presented themselves in the night's sky. On most nights they could see only a few stars due to the harsh lights in the city, but in the pitch-blackness, the sky was filled with them.

The days events, while exciting, had drained Shinji, so after a while stargazing, he decided to hit the sack. Asuka stayed up for a while, thinking through the last few days. She picked apart her feelings, and analyzed her thoughts.

Sighing she looked up, and took in the stars one more time. Flexing her hand, feeling the sharp pain flow up and down her arm, she whispered "Thank you, Shinji. For everything." And then she went to her own bed.

START ADDENDUM

Ringers- AKA Lactated Ringers Solution. Ringers is a type of intravenous drip. Consists of electrolyte solution, and is used to replenish fluid and electrolyte levels to maintain proper electrical conductance in blood system. Electrolytes are essential to the body. They are what allow water to conduct electricity. Totally pure water is electrically insular. Will not conduct electricity at all. I have known fellow Infantrymen who give these to themselves before long road marches. You will generally totally soak a full set of BDUs in sweat before you finish the march so it is important to hydrate.... When you get done with a bag of IV, you feel like a million bucks though.

AT Field theory- Those of you who are unfamiliar with AT Field theory should look for the Eva Mailing list homepage at onegeek.org. There are extensive posts on how the AT Fields work for humans Evas and Angels, and the dynamics and ideas behind their use and function. For the most part, I have adopted some views and rejected others. AT Fields are described in the story as I think of them.

Aomori Apples- Aomori grows their own special apples. I must say that they are the most delicious apples I have eaten. If you ever have the chance, pick some up. You may have to go to Japan to get some, but it is worth it.


	3. DAY 5

**Life After Eva**

This is a work of fiction. Void where prohibited, no purchase necessary, batteries not included, price includes tax, title and license, some assembly required, professional driver on closed course, smoking has been found by the Surgeon General to be hazardous to your health. Be sure to drink your Ovaltine!

Thanks again to Dennisud, who revised this chapter, and sent it to me to post. Fixed a couple of situations to make Asuka a little more Asuka-like, and Shinji seem slightly less sure.  
  
**DAY 5**  
  
Due to the early bed time the night before, both teens were up bright and early the next morning, ready to tackle the new day, and their continuing adventure. Unfortunately there was a convenience store nearby, so they had some wholesome junk food for breakfast. They ate quickly, anxious to get back on the road. Shinji, had taken the pages they needed out of the map, and folded them up, then began unloading the items they wanted to keep from the car, and figuring out how to put them all on the bikes.  
  
They divided up the supplies, deciding to put equal amounts on the bikes. But before they started actually putting things on them, Shinji suggested that they test out the bikes, and make sure that they are what they want.  
  
So, releasing the brakes, and retracting the kickstand, they wheeled the motorcycles out of the garage they were in. These were very heavy. The manuals put them at about 650 to 700 lbs each dry. They would have to be very careful to keep them from falling. They would probably not get one back up if it fell over. Even with both of them lifting.  
  
It was much the same as the test rides the day before. Except instead of leaning forward with your feet directly under or behind you, these were designed to allow the rider to sit upright, with feet in front of you. Shinji managed to kick start the motorcycle on the second try this time. And playing with the shifter, he put some gas on it while releasing the clutch, and rumbled off. Asuka was right behind him, pouring on the gas. They rode up and down the road several times, allowing themselves to become familiar with the gear shifting systems and braking on the motorcycles.  
  
When they both felt that they had grown accustomed to the controls, they pulled back into the garage, and turned the motorcycles off.  
  
They had laid everything out that they would be taking, and had even divided it up, but looking at it a little more, Shinji was afraid that there was just too much. 2 Tents, 2 sleeping bags, the cook stove, some waterproof bags with clothes, some food, and a first aid kit.  
  
"Hey Asuka? I don't think this is going to work." He said as she walked up next to him.  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"I think we may have too much stuff. It won't all fit on the bikes."  
  
"Well what can we still get rid of.?"  
  
"Well we need the clothes, the food, the stove, and the first aid kit. I was also going to take that set of tools over there in case we have trouble. We need the sleeping bags. Now I know you won't like this, but we only need one tent. Those are big enough for two." He knew it was coming before he even completed the thought. Well, come as it may. There was no way around it without finding some other form of transportation.  
  
Asuka scowled deeply, crossing one arm slowly over the other. Shinji could tell that she was weighing the options. "You just want to do that so that you can take advantage of me. I know you, you pervert!"  
  
"Oh, give me a break, Asuka. You know what? If I wanted to take advantage of you, don't you think I would have done it by now? I could have put some general anesthetic in your bag yesterday, and you would have gone under in a few minutes. I could have done anything to you that I wanted, and there would have been nothing you could do to stop me. You would never know what had hit you. So don't give me that crap."  
  
Asuka blinked, and wondered at Shinji. He was getting angry, and she knew that he was good as his word. He looked at her a little perturbed, and after a moment she buckled. She waved her hand and rolled her eyes. "Fine, leave one behind. I believe you Shinji. Old habits are kind of hard to break you know?" A small smile graced her lovely face.  
  
Shinji lost his frown, and gave her a little smile. "I know Asuka. I just wanted you to know that I am not a pervert. C'mon, let's get this stuff packed."  
  
Taking out some bungee cords that he had packed away, they fastened the tent and sleeping bags to the area just behind the seat, and packed the rest into the saddle bags. Shinji retrieved the tool kit and put that in his bag too.  
  
It was a little after 10:00 a.m. when they pulled out of the garage, leaving it for the last time. They turned onto Highway 25 South, and weaving in and out of various crashed and burned out vehicles, they made decent time. What with the road conditions, they averaged about 40 miles an hour due to having to slow down to avoid cars, and keeping things slow so that they could get used to the rides. Shinji was having the time of his life. He thought to himself. 'This is great'. You did not have to think about much while riding, just enjoy watching the countryside flowing past you. Asuka too was having fun. The wind felt good waving her hair out behind her like a long horizontal flame. They both learned quickly enough not to smile too widely while riding. The bugs, which were out in force, were not really that tasty.  
  
So far they had only seen insects as the only other life around except themselves and the plants, but they saw all kinds of wildlife and domestic animals on their way.  
  
By the time they decided to stop, they had traveled about 160 miles. A little less than halfway to their destination. They had stopped a ways back to fill the gas tanks. A few minutes hand pumping gas, a bite to eat, and they had gotten back on their way.  
  
It was not quite 4:00 p.m. when they decided to stop. Both of them had sore butts. Not a good idea to ride that far in one day on your first real ride. They also both had a bit of a sunburn on their exposed skin. Not bad, just singed. They made camp that night at a roadside stop that had bathrooms, a little convenience store, and vacated vendor stalls. The water was still running testifying that somewhere there was a water tank with a working water pump in it. The convenience store was all right. They did not have anything that would decay like meat so it was still clean and pleasant smelling. Shinji and Asuka took this chance to restock on some hygene items, and searched out some food. Candy was in abundance, but after the junk food breakfast they needed some real food. Unfortunately this was a conveniance store, not a grocery store.  
  
They ate odds and ends that night. Then they talked about how different the world was now. The stars were just as nice as the night before, but they did not stay up long enough to look at them for long. Shinji set up the tent, and Asuka went into the restrooms and washed herself off as best she could. By the time she was finished, Shinji had the tent up, and the sleeping bags off of the motorcycles. She spread out the bags while Shinji took his turn in the restrooms.  
  
It was a little cramped, but Asuka did not complain. It was necessary, and there was nothing really wrong with it. It was not like they were going to.... (A blush was building). And even if they did ... Asuka shook her head to clear it, then she laid down and tried to go to sleep.  
  
Shinji returned, and lay down also, turning over a once or twice to get comfortable. Asuka sighed next to him, and he spoke softly to her. "Asuka, you awake?" She nodded though facing away from him. "Well I just wanted to say, thanks for being with me. You know? I don't think that being alone would have been good for me. I don't think that I would have been able to hack it." Asuka knew exactly what he meant, though unspoken. "So, I am glad that you are here." And with that he rolled over and found sleep.  
  
Asuka liked the sound of being appreciated. Especially just for her presence. It felt good to be wanted and needed by someone. Even if it did come from Baka-Shinji. She really was glad to be alive now. But it brought questions to mind for her. What were they here for? Why only two people left on Earth? That was awkward, especially with the two being her and Shinji. It was like someone had a sick sense of humor. They put her back here and say "Asuka, you are now responsible for the fate of the whole human species. And your fate is… this guy." What do you say to that? What do you feel about that? The sense of responsibility was enough to drive her crazy.

But, in the end, it meant one thing really. She looked over at Shinji. His back was to her, and he was asleep all ready anyway. What the hell was she supposed to do? She sighed, basically she really had no choice. If she did not, she would feel ... She forced herself to stop thinking about it. Whatever happens … happens. Just as she was finally going to sleep, she wondered what the next day would bring.


	4. DAY 6

**Life After Eva**

A few more touchups.  Not much else to day. I think that I am going to stop talking at the beginning of revised chapters…

**DAY 6**  
  
The morning's dawn was cold, and misty. Dew had formed in the night, and everything was at least a little wet from the condensation. Shinji awoke to a soft noise beside him. It was Asuka, and she was crying. He listened to her for a few minutes, not wanting to interrupt her. She breathed deeply several times and soon she got herself to calm down.  
  
Earlier that morning, she woke up to find that she was curled up behind Shinji, hugging him for warmth. She was glad that he had not woken up first. It felt good like that, lying there behind him, soaking up and sharing body heat. But it did not feel right for her to do that. They had no relationship to really justify being that close, and she felt that if she was going to... to… cuddle, it would be with someone she loved. And then she realized it again. There was no one else. Everyone was gone. Something had been taken away nearly a week ago. It was opportunity. Infinite permutations of her life were taken from her nearly in an instant. Now all that existed were two. Two outcomes. Two people. Two realities. Two possible futures.  
  
She sighed deeply, and wiped the tears from her face. She hated the puffy feeling of her face after she cried. To ensure that Shinji would not know of it, she got up and left the tent to go wash her face, and collect her thoughts. She wondered how they would get through all this.  
  
Shinji waited for a few minutes, and heard the sink running in the bathroom. Asuka walked around a little, and then came back out. She sniffed a few times, and sat down outside the tent. Maybe she needed to meditate.  
  
Asuka was not meditating. In fact, she was getting hungry and annoyed. Surely Shinji would get up soon. Finally after about 15 minutes of waiting, she tore open the door of the tent, and threw a bottle of sunscreen at him bopping him in the head. "Hey! Wake up! You gonna sleep all day?" Shinji grumbled and got right up. Somewhere in the back of Asuka's mind she wondered if he had been up all along. Much later she knew the truth.  
  
"What has gotten into you this morning? Can't I even get some sleep around here." Shinji said with a tinge of anger.  
  
She stood up facing him, with her arms akimbo shaking her head as she spoke. "Well if all you want to do is sleep, why didn't you choose a world where you could sleep all the time?" Asuka snapped back.  
  
Shinji put his shoes on, and angrily stormed off to the bathroom. If she was going to be like this today, he definitely did not want to be around her. Shinji washed up, and left to stalk the isles of the convenience store in search of something that they could eat. The only breakfast related items were some cereals and toaster pastries. Things that people on the road could eat with their hands if they wanted. He got some orange juice out of one of the still working fridges, checked the carton, making sure it was super-pasteurized. Then he opened the top and smelled it. There was a good chance that it would be starting to ferment by now even if it was pasteurized, but it smelled OK and tasted even better. Taking a couple more out, as well as some bottled water and the pastries, he exited to rejoin grumpy Asuka.  
  
They sat and ate in silence, not even looking at each other. Shinji was sorry that he had snapped at her, but she should have had some more patience. He was only giving her some room and some privacy to deal with her feelings. The thought did occur to him that this is how she deals with her feelings. Anytime she has something bothering her, she gets angry and mean. He sighed and allowed his anger to leave him.  
  
They packed as soon as they were done eating, and cleaned up the area. When Shinji went to kick-start his bike, the kick-start swung around, and banged his shin again, eliciting a yelp of pain. Asuka just laughed. Shinji's face turned red, and for a moment he was thinking dark thoughts indeed about the smirking red head. He shot her a squinting angered look, and she piped down. Frowning he tried again, and was rewarded with a deep rumbling sound of horsepower. Not even waiting for Asuka, he let off the clutch and quickly drove away, gaining speed. He watched her in the mirror, mouth agape, amazed that he would just take off without her. He knew though that after her initial shock, she would recover and catch up to him.  
  
Within a minute, he heard her motorcycle coming up behind him, and when he hit a straight stretch of road, sure enough she popped around the corner behind him and was quickly catching up to him. Her helmet now obscured any facial clues as to her mood but he could imagine what it was. 'Well', he thought to him, 'If she didn't like it, then maybe she should stop dishing it out.'  
  
While the former Third Child was riding, as there were fewer cars on the road in this area, he had time to think about his companion in depth. He figured that if she was ever going to stop being mean to him, he would have to do something about it himself. She was never going to change on her own. Although inexplicably, he now realized that she was being much kinder to him recently. Maybe that is just cause he was the only person around. He hoped that she was not going to try and ride the line. Be just nice enough to him for him to stay with her. That would infuriate him more than anything else, for someone to want to be with you, but not want to be nice to you. It was an odd paradox that he knew he would never figure out.  
  
As he was driving, he felt nature's call, so he put his turn signal on, and pulled off to the side of the road. Asuka stopped just ahead of his bike and shut hers off as well, but she stayed close, walking around and stretching. Entering the trees, he looked at his watch and was surprised to see that it was already noon. They had just ridden 4 hours and he did not even realize it. He picked out a tree, and did his thing, then returned to the roadside.  
  
Asuka was there crunching on some kind of trail mix she had gotten somewhere. She looked at him, and held the bag out silently. She followed his hand with her eyes as he pulled some out, but she never said a word. Shinji wondered if this was the silent treatment. If it was then it was fine with him.  As he could stay quiet longer than she could.  
  
The trail mix was OK. It consisted of peanuts, cashews, and pieces of chocolate and raisins. And odd mix, but it worked, salty and sweet, yet chewy and crunchy. It had it all. He pulled out a bottle of water, and threw it to Asuka, then got one for himself. He had started getting a bit of a headache a while back so he knew that he had to start drink more water. At least they would not have to worry much about water for a while. It did not go bad the same way juices and other things did. He supposed if you left it in the bottle long enough it would taste weird.  
  
Asuka interrupted his thoughts as she cleared her throat, and remounting her motorcycle. He had to admit she really looked good on that bike. She looked good off of it too, but unless things changed, he would never tell her that. First she would probably "hentai" him to death, then agree with him and let it go to her head. He thought 'some things will never change'.  
  
With that last thought, Shinji got back on his bike too, donned his helmet and cranked it up. He was getting used to it by now. His butt still hurt, but he was a lot more comfortable with the bikes handling now that they had come so far. Pulling away, he looked back to Asuka as she started her own motorcycle, and followed.  
  
A little ways down the road they rolled through the city of Sayo. After stopping for a minute at a gas station, Shinji pulled out the map, and consulted it. Another 25 miles away was the city of Tsuyama. From there they would turn south to Okayama, which lay perhaps another 30 miles beyond. His gas gage was getting close to 1/4 tank, so he pulled over, and turned the engine off, and prepared to hand pump some more gas. He filled both his and Asuka's tanks while she went in the restroom there to do her thing.  
  
The asphalt radiated the heat back up at him, and he was surprised at the sweltering hot day it had turned into. He had hoped that morning that they would have a mild day for once. He drank some more water, emptying the bottle this time, then broke open another. Soon with the gas pumped, Asuka relieved, they left heading for Tsuyama and Okayama beyond it. The highway was really straight here, and so allowed people to get up to some high speeds. Such must have been the case with a large car pileup they passed a few minutes later. It was spectacular. One car had flipped over, and rode about 300 feet on it roof. Two other cars had wrapped around each other, and the rest were all rolled on they're sides, roof's or were precariously balance on something all together in a pile.  
  
"Wow" Asuka said before realizing her mistake. Shinji looked over and smiled. Asuka gave him a mock "Hmmmph!!" and smiled herself. He liked her this way, without that emotional wall of pride and arrogance. Their morning spat almost forgotten, he started thinking about her smile. While she smiled a lot more often now than she used to (at least to him), he enjoyed it every time she did it, like it was the very first time.  
  
A few miles down the road they saw the sign to turn off on highway 53 South. Soon they were pulling into the outskirts of Okayama. It was not a small town, but neither was it a sprawling big city. Things were quiet … just like everything nowadays. The wind blew sadly through the town, and everything stood still except for some old newspaper and such.  
  
Shinji realized that they had been so worried about getting here, now what were they going to do? "Hey Asuka. So now that we are here, what do you want to do? I don't think either of us want to stay in that tent anymore."  
  
She seemed to think for a few seconds before answering. "I want a place to stay. I am tired of that apartment, I'm also tired of the tent. I wanna house. It's as good a place to start as any I think." She looked self assured and pleased with her self in a very Asuka-like fashion.  
  
That was true. If they were going to make it, they needed a more permanent place to stay. "OK. I think the first thing we might want to do is take a tour around the local area and find out what all there is. Why settle for second rate right?"  
  
Asuka smiled. "I like the way you think Third Child. OK, lets go see if we can find a map of the area, or even a real estate office. They would have a pretty good guide to housing in the area right?"   
  
"Yup. I would imagine they would." They rode through the middle of town, and sure enough there were several all within sight of each other.. They entered Tsuruya Inc. and found several pamphlets illustrating houses in the area. In one there was a map showing different areas and explaining what could be found there in the way of houses and property.  
  
The first area they went to had some nice houses and was back in the mountains. One house in particular caught their eye immediately.  It sat partway up the slope, and had a large cathedral ceiling with picture windows along the sun facing side to let light in. There were three bedrooms and 2 1/2 baths.  
  
"Well that was easy. You picked out a nice house Shinji."  
  
"Wha... you are just going to settle for the first thing we come to?" Shinji looked around. It was well furnished. The owners had good taste.  
  
"Why not? Why waste time looking for another one when this one is just fine? It is not like we can't afford it." Course I think we are going to have to do something about this chair. Yuck." Undoubtedly someone had been sitting in the chair when they dissolved. There was a large stain all over the seat and clothes were rumpled on the seat where they had sat.  
  
"Well if this is really where you want to live, that is OK with me. I don't really care one way or the other. Now I think I ought to go find my place."  
  
"What?! What do you mean? You're not going to live here?" Asuka was alarmed to see Shinji leaving.  
  
"Well I didn't think that you wanted me hanging around all the time. We didn't get along that well when we were living with ... Misato." Shinji was sorry he had even thought of Misato. He missed her. He missed everyone. But of everyone who was gone, he missed his guardian the most, even with her quirks. She was kind to him, and seemed to genuinely care for him. He really missed her!  
  
Asuka closed the door so Shinji couldn't get out. "Shinji, I don't think I would do too well being alone most of the time. Without at least someone around I … get depressed, and you probably don't want to know what I might do or think about when I am depressed like that. I just want someone close by." She looked sternly at him, then smiled. "Even if it only you." If he wouldn't stay after her asking she would get mad again. No begging from Asuka Langley Souryu.  
  
Shinji looked down at his shoes and nodded his head. "OK, Asuka. I didn't know you felt that way." A small smile appeared on Shinji's face.  
  
"Besides, who is going to change my bandages and clean up after me?" She smiled again.  
  
"Hey now! There are some things we may need to go over first." Shinji hoped that he knew what he was doing. Of course living with Asuka sounded like something that it was not. How things can change so quickly.  
  
Later that evening, they watched the sun setting from the porch. It's golden surface looked almost amorphous as it dipped below the horizon, waving slightly from waves of heat distorting it. When the last rays were disappearing, they went back inside. Shinji went out back for a moment. They had located a small gas generator outside that had been run into the main house circuit. It started right up, and the lights inside immediately came to life.  
  
They had stored the motorcycles in the garage, and took the sleeping bags inside. Asuka had laid them out in two separate rooms. She valued her privacy, and she was glad to have it back at least for the night.  
  
There was some food in the kitchen, some of it good, some not so good. Shinji fixed some vegetable stir fry without the meat that night. There was also rice and dried fish. It was the first really good meal they had since leaving Tokyo-3. Hopefully once they got up and running they could have a garden or something. Maybe even raise animals for slaughter or catch fish. They talked while they ate, exploring some possibilities. The future looked bright. But it would take some work. Shinji hoped that Asuka would not revert to her old lazy self.  Neither had ever thought of the possibility that they would have to get back to basics this way.  Shinji a gardener?  Asuka effectively a homemaker?  Who would've thought it?  
  
After eating so much, they both felt tired. Shinji picked up the plates, while Asuka cleaned the counters and put things away. Shinji went outside and turned off the generator. It would not do to run themselves out of fuel. Soon they said goodnight to each other, and went to their respective rooms. Shinji had just sat down and taken his shirt off when a soft knock came at his door.  
  
"Come on in, Asuka."  
  
The door opened, and in the darkness he could make our her outline. "Shinji, I just wanted to tell you that it means a lot to me that you would stay with me. I ... I know that I'm not a very nice person to live with, and that you would want to be with me like this ..." She trailed off, and it was not until she sniffled that he realized she was crying.  
  
"No, no… Asuka. Don't… don't cry. It's OK. You're not a bad person. We just don't understand each other sometimes. I don't even understand myself a lot of the time." He drew on Kaji's simple, but true, philosophy to help placate the girl. "Have you been worried that I thought you were a bad person, Asuka?" He then got up and guided her to sit on the bed and sat next to her.  
  
She nodded and leaned her head on his shoulder.  Shinji hesitantly wrapped his arms around her shoulders, rocking slowly back and forth.

 Asuka had realized that her propensity for driving people away from her would be her undoing if she wasn't careful. If she drove Shinji away from her, she would be all alone, and there was no way that she could function even at the most basic levels with absolutely no one around. She rested on Shinji who was trying to figure out what to say to make things better.  
  
"Shhhh." Shinji could not think of anything uplifting to say , so he just started talking about all of the things that they could do. There was no limit to the possibilities. He talked for a while, and Asuka was quiet for a long, long time. Looking down, he found that she had fallen asleep.  
  
Shinji almost laughed out loud. If she looked good riding a motorcycle, she was beautiful almost Angelic when she was at peace and asleep. Laying her softly back on the sleeping bag, he stopped for a moment to watch her sleep, then picked up his shirt, and went to her designated room.  
  
After he got in her sleeping bag, he realized that it smelled like her. He wondered why Asuka thought so little of herself in private but thought so much of herself to the public. Shinji was under the suspicion that he was one of the few people who knew that she felt this way. That made him feel good. It meant that she trusted him. And he had to make sure that that trust was well placed. He fell asleep soon with his nostrils filled with the smell of Auska's natural fragrance, and then she invaded his dreams too. Of course he had strange dreams. And they really did not make much sense, but he was glad she was there.  
  
Just some info for those non-Tenchi fans (Is there such a thing?) Okayama is where most of the action in the Tenchi series takes place. Not really in Okayama but nearby.

I know that I have not had Shinji changing out Asuka's bandages. I thought that it would get terribly repetitive to put down their every move. Unfortunately there are not too many literary works of post-apocalyptic Earth where infrastructure has survived as well. This is almost like someone detonated a huge neutron bomb. So don't be surprised if I come up with weird ideas. It is hard to imagine what you would do in situations like these, since there is no basis for comparison. No experience that I have ever had is anything like this, so this is a bit of an exploration for myself as well as my explorations of the characters. Which, by the way, is one of the big reasons why I write. It gives me a chance to delve into the psyche of the characters and try to figure them out. The best way I know how. Anyhow let me stop rambling and let you get on with your reading... Catch you in the next chapter.


	5. DAY 27

**Life After Eva**

**DAY 27**

In the three weeks that they had enjoyed at the house, Shinji had mourned the loss of his friends, what family he had, and the countless other peoples of the Earth. In the beginning he had been kept busy figuring out how to live again, too busy to think much about it. But now, he had time to contemplate and digest the idea that no one was ever coming back.

For several days he had broken down, unable to truly fathom the scope of it. Billions dead. None of them would ever breath again. They would never eat, love, sleep again. After realizing this he was forced to blame himself. He could have done something to bring them back. He could have found some way. Selfishly he had thought only of himself, and what he thought to be the way that things should be. He imagined that the spirits of those dead would want him to join them for their untimely demise. He came close to breaking down totally; he over analyzed things, and allowed the situation to get the better of him.

Asuka had somewhat of an easier time of it. She allowed herself to cry once while outside of Shinji's sight and earshot. But other than that, she stoically accepted the life that had been left for her. She did her best to comfort Shinji. She had never comforted anyone before, and did not know how best to proceed, so she had to play it by ear. She found that the things that worked best was soft reassurances like "It's gonna be OK" and "Calm down, everything is alright." Also exonerations like "It was not your fault" and "there was nothing you could have done" helped. But in the end, she was forced to be close to him. Giving him a shoulder to shed his tears on allowed him to be rid of some of the grief.

Finally he accepted his circumstances, and allowed the healing process to begin. For Asuka it was hard to watch. Here was a boy who had a very low self-esteem to begin with, and he feels that he is responsible for the demise of nearly the entire human race that he had tried to protect on many occasions.

And then one day, he woke up, and actually believed it. The sun shone brighter, the woods were more beautiful, and life was worth living again. He had doubted that last fact many times over the last few days. He was still very hurt over Third Impact, but he knew that he was alive, and that he was there for some purpose. And with purpose comes meaning.

Meaning. What was the meaning? What was that weight? The one on his chest? He looked down, and saw a tangled mass of red. What was the meaning of **that**?! He moved very carefully out of the sleeping bag in which he was cocooned. Asuka's head stayed planted in the same spot. Slowly he reached back in and supporting her head with his hands and laid it on the ground, then slipped his legs fully out of the sleeping bag, and beat feet out of the room. He did not want to be there when she woke up. He had never been good with compromising positions, and for all intents and purposes, that was one.

It was fairly early in the morning so he set about making breakfast while Asuka woke up. The smells issuing from the kitchen flowed down the hallway and seeping into the bedroom were just enough to start pulling Asuka's mind back to reality.

As the more sharp salty smells made their way to her nose, she opened her eyes, surprised but thankful to see that Shinji was not here. She would hate to explain to him what had happened, and she could now just pass it off like it had not happened.

Rising she made her way to the bathroom down the hall and checked herself in the mirror. Her hair was in bad shape, her face had creases in it where she had pressed against the material on the sleeping bag, and to top it all off, her face was starting to break out a little with acne. This last fact depressed her. She hated being a teenager. She wished that she could just skip to being an adult.

She heard Shinji humming in the kitchen, and hoped that this marked an improvement to his overall mood. She hated watching him destroy himself. But then, when people have hit bottom, that is a good place to start building themselves again. Only…some people decide not to build. They decide to wallow in their depression, and not come back out. She realized that she was thinking of the way she had been only a couple of months before. Prone to thoughts of suicide.

At the time she had thought that no one knew her or wanted her enough to be able to help her, but now she knew that Shinji would have. He would have helped her through her time if she had let him in. Just as he had let her in. The last three weeks had lasted forever for her. Long days and endless nights of allowing the boy to weep for his apparent failures and trying to build him back up and show him that he was not faulted. She had been close to throwing up her hands at times. She had been close to hugging him some times too.

The smell of breakfast came even stronger from the kitchen, and she was compelled to investigate. Shinji stood at the counter cutting at some vegetables at the cutting board countertop. The quick sure repetitive "schnikt schnikt schnikt" sound was music to her ears, and she imagined what tasty meal he had been preparing.

She did not really feel like facing him yet, so she went back and started cleaning the bedrooms, putting things away, and folding the futons they had procured up and putting them away. The house was a real find. It was totally customized to the person that had owned it. You would likely never see such a house again. They had been staying on the first floor, but there was a second floor that was a large loft. This opened up to look over the living and dining room of the first floor like a balcony and allowed for the cathedral ceiling. The house was designed to trap heat during the day and hold it throughout the night. But it breathed during the summer to allow the heat out more easily in the daytime.

There were two bedrooms on the first floor as well as one and a half bathrooms. On the second floor there was another bedroom in the loft as well as another bathroom, some storage and a workroom.

The kitchen was something out of Shinji's dreams. Nearly a quarter of the countertops were made from hardwood cutting board. There was an island in the middle with a large gas range-top and grill was well as cabinet space under it and a magnetic utensil hanging apparatus above. There were all manner of food processing machines, but they were left unused in an attempt to conserve power.

Asuka had just finished up tidying up the second bedroom when Shinji appeared at the door, and blushing called her for breakfast. She was surprised to see him so red. He got so embarrassed from close contact with her. The only time he had not shown so much embarrassment was when he was so depressed. She thought that he had been grateful for it.

She threw the pillow on top of the futon, and followed Shinji down the hall to the kitchen. Arrayed on the table was a good-sized breakfast. Marinated fish and vegetables, steamed rice, homemade miso soup, toast.

"I couldn't find any jelly. I know you like jelly on your toast, but there wasn't any around. I'm sorry." Shinji apologized.

"Shinji, I want you to do something for me OK?"

Shinji nodded slowly unsure of what this would entail. "Yeah?"

"Never apologize to someone for giving them a huge breakfast like this. In fact, I want you to stop apologizing for things." She looked at him, making sure to make eye-to-eye contact.

"I just knew that you liked-"

"Ahhh! If you say your are sorry I am going to be forced to hurt you, Third Child." She mock threatened. "You need to understand that if I don't have jelly on my toast, I will still live. It isn't the end of the world and it won't ruin my day. It's all right. Especially in light of the abundance of other breakfast items." She gazed hungrily at the food."

"OK. In that case, breakfast is served." Together they made quick work of the meal, and soon, there were only little bits of it left.

Asuka put the dishes in the sink, and ran some water over them. The water slowed after a few seconds, and she knew it was time to let the electric pump put more water in the tank up the hill. One of the great things about living out in the boondocks: You don't have to rely on big city infrastructure for daily needs and nearly everything can be done yourself. Out here you did not have to know anything about citywide water grid or power grid. You just turn the generator on, walk up the hill, let the water pump work it's magic for a few hours, and then shut it all off.

But first, she was going to go for a bath. And there was the most perfect place nearby. Obviously someone had known of the spot. They had poured a couple of concrete steps just below the surface of the water so that you could sit on them and bathe. When they had found the house, initially they had not known of the bathing spot or the hotspring associated with it.  Asuka had been walking near the edge of the lake one day when she had seen the water churning slightly with the heat currents rising through the colder water.

Asuka went to her room and put her sponge, soap and other stuff in a backpack, and headed out of the house. Passing Shinji in the kitchen putting things away, she called back to him, "Shinji, I am going for a walk, I will be back in a while. OK?"  
  
"OK, Asuka. I will be around."

It was a little over a quarter mile to the spot. It was blinded from the house by a hill that rose up between the two. The walk was nice. The trees were waving their leaves in the wind, and the sounds were very pleasant. She left her clothes and the backpack on the shore and waded out to the hot spring perch. She had been here several times since they arrived, but had yet to tell Shinji about it. He bathed a ways away. She only knew this because she had watched him during the last few weeks, not due really to any interest, but out of concern for his safety. Yeah, that was it.

The warm water was soothing, and it enveloped her, allowing her muscles to relax. She shivered from the pleasant feelings, and sank further into the water, leaving just her head to stay above the surface.

* * *

Shinji had finished cleaning the kitchen and had moved to the garage to look around in there. There were lots of boxes with odds and ends in them, but in one he found a large hammock. The threads were thick and when he spread it out, it was huge. You could probably fit 6 or 7 people in it; it was so wide. It was sturdily constructed with a large stainless steel ring at each end and heavy-duty synthetic rope to fasten it to trees or poles.

He had never really relaxed in a hammock before, so he was anxious to try it out. The woods near the house provided many trees that he could tie to, but only a few would be of sufficient distance apart, and even fewer would have no other stuff around to afford him some space. He busied himself for the next 30 minutes finding such a pair of trees when he crested a hill and saw something.

It was Asuka. She was sitting halfway out of the water, soaping herself with a sponge, and rubbing all over… Shinji tried to avert his eyes. He succeeded for a moment or two, but inexorably he was drawn back to the sight of his housemate washing herself. After a minute or two more, he stood, and moved away, putting some distance between himself and the bathing beauty. Little did he know that standing up like that had drawn the beauty's attention to him.

It was another half hour before he saw her stalking up the lawn towards the house, carrying her backpack in her hand, a scowl marking her face. She walked into the house, and marched right up to Shinji.

"Shinji! Did you go over there?" She pointed in the general direction of the hot spring.

"Y-yes. I was looking for a-" Shinji looked down at the floor.

"Did you see anything?" The scowl deepened, and her brow furrowed dangerously.

"I didn't mean to. I mean, I was just- and then I saw you… And then"

"And what, Shinji? You get your kicks watching girls bathe?"   
  
"But I didn't know you were going to be there. I thought you were going out for a walk or something."

Asuka rolled her eyes. "Yeah? Well how much did you see? Hmm?"

"Eh.. Well you know… I saw you sitting there, and" Shinji blushed a red that threatened to bleed onto the chair he was sitting on. "And you… soap and… You were beautiful Asuka. I am sorry."

Asuka watched him for a moment. The bluster gone from her confrontation, she almost felt sorry for jumping at him like that. It must have taken some courage for him to say that. And of course he would not lie to her. She had never known Shinji to lie about something. It killed her to think that he saw her as something so beautiful.

She left him there without another word. Let him figure out what had happened. He would probably come and apologize in a few minutes. She threw her old clothes in the hamper and hung her towel out to dry, and sure enough Shinji appeared at her door a moment later. But standing there was not the sulking, sorry Shinji she had expected.

He stood straight, look her in the eye, and spoke evenly and with conviction. This was something that he had been meaning to say, he even may have rehearsed it some, and when he said it she had better listen.

"Asuka, you know what?  You are a mystery to me. You are beautiful, in personality and physical body. But you have an ugly side to both. You demean me and ridicule me, and think of me as an inferior. And yet you show me a softer side sometimes. Allowing me to cry on you, showing me that things aren't so bad. You are very beautiful, but when you have set your mind to being mean, your face is scary and unpleasant. You should know that I am grateful for your company. But if you are going to continue this way, I am not going to want to continue with you. If there were other people left here, I would say that you will never find someone who will want to be with you if you do not start accepting people for what they are. You would be alone, even among others. That is all." And with that he turned and walked back outside, resolving to get to the wood line before stopping and breathing a relaxing sigh. He sat on the ground, and wondered why he felt so good to say something like that. It was callous, but maybe that is what it took to get the girl to change. He hated saying things like that, but he was tired of being the butt of her jokes and bearing the brunt of her anger.

Asuka watched him leave the house, quietly accepting the things he had told her. It hurt, but she realized it was true. She showed herself in two different lights. In a way she was glad that this had happened. At least it had gotten Shinji to assert himself more. She had certainly not expected him to confront her about her actions. It was too bad that she had to instigate something to bring that out of him. She watched him sitting in the trees for a while. He was twisting the cords of the hammock in his hands back and forth, wringing them like he would a washcloth.

The thought occurred that she should apologize for blowing things out of proportion. He had not been there watching her with negative intentions. He had stumbled upon her, and was curious, but he walked away. To tell the truth that was chivalrous. He could have been perverted and stayed to watch, and she might never have known.

The house was quiet and clean so she went outside to try and talk to Shinji. He had lain back on the ground now, and was watching the clouds pass by. As she approached, he lifted his head, the look of contentment turning to caution. But he resumed watching the clouds when she lay down beside him, hands behind head.

"Shinji?"

"Mmm?"

"I want to say that I am sorry, OK? I thought that you had watched me, and that you were being perverted. I didn't think things through and I jumped to conclusions. I had no real right to be angry with you. I am trying to change. I want us to get along, but it is not easy for me."

Shinji looked over at her without raising his head. She took a deep breath, and let it out, eyes turned upwards. She looked over at him then, and he was surprised by the look of genuine regret in her eyes. Something that went beyond even just wishing that she could stay around him for companionship. She wanted to like him; she just had a hard time expressing that want.

"It's alright Asuka. I did not mean to peek. I did watch you, just a little bit." As long as they were being honest with each other….

Asuka's anger swelled up again, but she doused it. The time had come and gone for that. In it's place a curiosity sprang up instead. What did he think about her?

"Am I… beautiful, Shinji?" She had always fostered the perception that she was happy with her looks, but sometimes she wondered if she was really considered beautiful.

Shinji thought about that for a moment. Not too long. If he thought about it too long it could be misconstrued as thinking up a good answer. "I think you are beautiful Asuka." It could be a loaded question, so answer with a straightforward answer and see what happens.

Asuka nodded and watched an elephant balancing on a ball change into a rabbit taking a long leap. "I'm glad. I want you to know that I am glad you like me, Shinji. I am sorry that I hurt you." In an effort to change the subject she looked around, and noticed he was still holding the hammock. "Where did you find that?"

Shinji looked down at it. "It was in the garage packed in some boxes. I was looking for a place to put it when… when I saw you." He was turning red again.

"Can I help find a good place?" Doing something would help to relieve the tension between them.

"Y-yeah I guess. I had not found anywhere the particularly suited it. It is a very big one, and most of the trees are pretty close."

"You know, I think you were pretty close to a good area over there by the lake. The trees are pretty spread out there." She got up, and grabbed his hand, hauling him up as well, and then pulled him along in the direction of the bathing spot.

Sure enough there were several spots that would suffice here. But one in particular gave a grand view of the lake. By the time they found the spot and strung the hammock up it was early after noon, and the day was nearing its more intense heat, so they decided to rest in the hammock, which was situated in the shade of both trees.

It was even bigger than Shinji had thought it was. The cords were many different colors and when they stretched it out on both sides it made an immense rainbow like pattern several times all the way across.

It was a bit of a chore to get both of them in it without spilling the other out, but after a few minutes of wobbling, they managed to settle it down, with Shinji draping his leg over one side to swing back and forth. The clouds were fast disappearing, and the heat continued, so with nothing much left to do but relax, they did exactly that.

Within 10 minutes both were asleep. It was a very comfortable hammock.

* * *

Later in the afternoon, Asuka awoke. Shinji's face was stuffed between her upper arm and the cords of the hammock. For a while she just enjoyed the ability to relax. The sky was starting to turn from its normally blue state to orange. Shinji twitched a few times in his sleep.

Asuka thought for a while about how good she had it. She did not really have to worry about too much. No societal complications. No needless school related distraction. No more need to put her life on the line in a monstrous battle-form. And although she was stuck with only one person, she realized that he was a good person, and he would never consciously hurt her. His kind heart would be there for her even when she was mean to him.

Shinji shifted around next to her, and she looked at him. Not really with adoration or any other emotion, she just wanted to see what he was doing. His face pressed even further into the hammock, and his mouth was open now.

"I am sorry Shinji. Thank you for sticking with me. I needed you and you were there for me. I'm glad you are here."

Shinji closed his mouth, reached up and scratched his face. "Uh-huh. I love you too Asuka."

She frowned. It was no small surprise that if he was speaking his feelings for her, that they were indeed true. She pretty well knew that he had a thing for her. Of course it had never been her intention to test that theory. She had certainly not meant that she loved him. Or had she? Was she trying to tell him in uncertain terms exactly that? She sighed a heavy sigh. Why were feelings so hard to quantify? If you are the one having the feelings, why can't you just objectively analyze them and determine exactly how you feel. Frustrated she slowly exited he hammock so as not to disturb the sleeping Shinji next to her, and stretched.

Noting the time according to her watch, she realized that she was starting to get hungry. The breakfast from that morning was enough to carry them over with no lunch, but it was nearly 4:30 and it was time to fuel the fire again.

She was careful to shake Shinji only enough to wake him. Bleary eyed, and groggy from the afternoon nap, he raised his head, and had a hideous criss-cross pattern all over his face. "Hey sleepyhead, I think we may need to hook up something to eat. I am getting hungry."

* * *

Back inside once again, Shinji set about finding something to eat. With no cooling capacity they could not keep a lot of things ready for dinner. Fortunately they had spotted some readymade meals at a local grocery store on a recent visit. With only water, and some heat, they had a steamy Italian dish in only 45 minutes.

While they ate, they talked about trying to get some more necessities online to make things a little easier. Brainstorming between the two kept them from thinking about the days events. They had talked enough about it, and they were happy with the results, so it would not do to keep rehashing it.

First they needed to see about electrical supply. Neither of them had any idea about large-scale power supply. It had never been something that they felt the need to worry about or learn about.

So they started at the top. Something that would generate enough power to run the house. Since fuel would become an issue sooner or later, the generator out back was pretty well out of the question. While the ocean was near, it had never been tapped for tidal power.

But due to the winds coming off of the water, coupled with the fact that mountainous terrain was usually accompanied by higher than normal winds, there was some wind generators within a reasonable distance. The only thing was that they would supply power to the entire area, and even would attempt to spread it out over the entire power grid.

They decided that a trip into town tomorrow would be needed to assess the feasibility of trying to redirect that power. For all they knew, they turbines were still providing power, but it was not reaching them because it was being used before it got that far.

But what if they managed to get the power here, and the wind died down occasionally? The point hung in the air for a minute or two. They had eaten all of the food that was prepared, so Shinji started clearing off the table. Perhaps they should visit the library and research some other forms of power generation.

It was dark outside, and the artificial light that they enjoyed spilled out onto the porch. With no more ideas about the power generation, they turned the subject to each other. Shinji had already told Asuka quite a bit about his past, so he only took a few minutes and fill in a few gaps.

Asuka started as far back as she could remember, and even allowed for things that people had told her from even further back than that. She told of her parent's devotion to their work, her mother's accident at the hands of Unit 02, and her suicide not long afterward. Asuka did her best to hold back her anguish but like a weakened dam, the walls holding it back finally buckled and the sad memories got the better of her.

What had started as a good evening, one might even say a pleasant one, had turned into an introspective and revealing experience for Asuka. Shinji was by her side, trying to soothe the sadness that had welled up in her. This was the first time he had seen her cry, and he took it as her showing him a great amount of trust that she had placed in him.

After quite some time she continued, telling him about her stepmother, and pouring herself into her studies in school and college. How she had never really wanted to be close to anyone. She only maintained appearances to make things easier.

This description of her life nearly mirrored his own. The similarities were amazing. If anything though, it was good that they were so alike. He understood her much better than he would have otherwise. She was so much like him that it was like looking at a version of himself.

At length, she sighed a shaky sigh of relief. She had not told very many people about her past. And now Shinji was the only one on Earth who knew it. She calmed down slowly, breathing deeply. Then she noticed her proximity to Shinji. He was holding her from her right side, with his arms wrapped around her. She recognized this position. She had comforted him many times recently almost exactly like this.

The cool night air flowed in through the open windows and doors. Asuka shivered, and Shinji held her closer. For just this moment, no words were said. Quiet was the order of the day. To speak would be to ruin it, to degrade and erode it. To move or speak would break the spell that allowed such a moment. It lasted forever, but it ended too soon. Asuka got a cramp in her leg, and she ignored it for as long as she could, but finally she had to stretch her legs out, and relieve it.

And the moment was gone. The stillness of the house was overwhelming. It was a little much for the girl. She had never had to be consoled about anything in her life. No one ever held her. No one ever told her that it was going to be OK. And here this spineless little boy was keeping her afloat.

She stood up from the chair, allowing Shinji's arms to fall away from her. He looked up to see her walk away. Looking around the side of the chair, he could only wonder what had happened. It had felt so good to hold her like that. The chair felt empty. He heard her door close down the hall, and he heaved a sigh that would make one think he was the most tired person in the world.

He hoped that he had not hurt Asuka. He did his best never to do that. But it seemed like it happened anyway. He stood and stretched. It was time for bed, but first he went outside and turned off the generator.

The house was plunged into darkness, and so as not to upset his redheaded roommate, he stealthily moved through the shadows, easing his door open, and stepping in his room. Another sigh, and he removed his shirt and pants, and then slipped under the covers of his futon.

He felt something against his skin, and felt for it. It was just the zipper along the side that let one take the stuffing out to clean. There was nothing and no one in the bed with him, so he went to sleep. But a little while later there was, when someone silently opened his door, and tried to fill the aching hole in her chest by holding him close.


	6. DAY 28

**Life After Eva**

If you have been waiting for some relationship development, you will have to wait just a bit longer. I needed to get some things out or the way first, and set the stage a little more. I don't really expect outstanding reviews for this chapter since it is the character development and action chapters that seem to really set people off. Anyhow, I do hope that you enjoy this one.  
  
**DAY 28**  
  
In his dreams, Shinji was usually alone. So he thought he was in this one too. But after a while, he became aware of another presence with him. He could not see her, but she was there. Her presence was bright and wild. He felt the slightest touch at his side. She did not speak, but then he did not need her to. She was with him. They explored this and that. Roamed all over seeing what life had to offer, and when they were done, they touched briefly and he swam up from the darkness to the waking world.  
  
Sometime in the early morning Asuka awoke, and slid languidly away from Shinji, padding softly to the door, and after a brief pause and a thoughtful look back at him, she was gone, back to her bedroom to continue the night alone.  
  
Outside the first rays of sunshine were starting to illuminate the sky. At first, it was too subtle for any human eye to pick up, but if you could perhaps see in the near IR spectrum it would be much brighter than the surrounding sky. As the sun made its endless journey through the sky, finally it broke over the horizon, and flooded the house with its might.  
  
The wooden framing of the walls, and light tones throughout cast the entire house in a light golden tint. With the breaking of day, also came the resumption of the din of insect noises that accompanied the out of doors.  
  
Asuka tried valiantly to go back to sleep, but the light was insistent. So finally she got up and stayed up. She was alright. Not suffering from any lack of sleep. She wandered into the kitchen and started looking through the cabinets. Her eyes latched onto a pouch of coffee. She had never had coffee, and had smelled many different types. If they tasted at all like they smelled it would be delicious.  
  
She walked outside and turned on the generator. Fortunately it was on the other side of the house than where Shinji was so he did not hear it. Back inside, she loaded the grounds into the coffee maker, and started fixing a breakfast as best she could. There was some instant dough mix, so she decided that they could have biscuits. It had been quite some time since she had had biscuits. And honey. Yumm. Honey was good on biscuits.  
  
All the mix required was water so she mixed it up, kneaded it, rolled it out, and began cutting small flat round bits of it out and arranging them on a cookie sheet. After a short stay in the oven, they were done, and she pulled them out to cool. There was some honey in a small honey pot complete with a honey spoon in the cupboard too.  
  
Setting this and the biscuits on the table, she went to wake Shinji up, and found him already awake and readying himself for the day. To be exact she found him naked, and dressing in clean clothes for the day. She had the discretion of only opening the door wide enough to peek, and not saying anything. Unfortunately she was too curious just to let it go, and ended up watching him for a couple of minutes. She moved back down the hall toward the kitchen, and yelled to him. "Shinji! I have breakfast ready. Rise and shine sleepy-butt!"  
  
"Yeah, yeah. I am coming, Asuka." He appeared from his door, and looked at her. The light shone through her hair. The red had never appeared so bright, so wild, so perfect for her as it had right then.  
  
"What?" She asked looking around. "What is it?"  
  
He just smiled a little and shook his head. The smells wafting down the short hallway almost carried him to the kitchen without him taking a step. French Vanilla coffee was poured in cups, which were ready next to plates piled with a few biscuits, each of which were still steaming. His mouth watered, and he practically beamed at Asuka.  
  
For someone who claimed to be a terrible cook, she made a damned fine breakfast of biscuits. Asuka noticed his look, and knew pretty well what it was. "I hope you like honey on them, that is about all there is."  
  
"Honey is fine, Asuka. Thank you very much. This looks wonderful." They both sat and dug in to their plates of biscuits.  
  
Asuka was the first to taste the coffee, and it was all she could do to keep from spitting it back out. "Oh my God. I must have made it wrong or the grounds were bad. Ughh."  
  
Shinji took a quick sip. "Nope, that is about how it all tastes to me. Everyone I have talked to says 'It's an acquired taste.' Whatever that means."  
  
"Well they can have it. That sucks." Asuka made another sour face, and Shinji agreed.  
  
The biscuits went fast, and soon all that was left was crumbs. They put the dishes in the sink, and got ready to leave. They packed a couple of lunches of cheese and crackers because there was no telling whether they would be able to get to some lunch during the day. They hurried because it would be best if they got out of the house early. It would take all day to visit the places they would need to go.  
  
The ride into town was a fairly short one. They had negotiated the twisty roads outside of town often enough now that it was much faster than their first few times.  
  
First order of business was to visit the library. It was a rather large one that even had audiovisual rooms and had allowed people to get on the Internet. Fortunately this one had held on to the card catalogue rather than bend to the popular perception that digital was always better. After about 20 minutes they both sat down with several books each and started reading. The light coming in through the large front windows was enough to easily read by.  
  
Shinji flipped through his first and was started on his second when Asuka drew his attention to her book. "It says that UPS systems have bee used for years for short term power outages, mostly to keep delicate computer systems running. Some of the larger ones can power for quite some time." There was a picture on the facing page of a large scale one. It was basically a large brown box about 10 feet long and 3 or 4 feet wide that stood about 6 feet off the ground.  
  
"That is pretty big. I don't know how we would get that up there."  
  
"Well assuming we wanted to put something like that at the house, I am sure we could commandeer a flat bed, and a crane or something."  
  
Shinji looked doubtful. He did not know anything about cranes or large electrical devices. Of course about a month ago, he did not know anything about motorcycles either. They looked through the books and a few more ideas came up but nothing really good other than solar panels. Biodeisel, too much chemistry. Power cells, too hard to obtain hydrogen. Banks of batteries, too much work to convert power back and forth, and it was dangerous to do that.  
  
After an hour and a half of looking they kept Asuka's book, and went to the prefecture land bureau. Inside where maps of the area and details about rights of way for the power lines and associated equipment for the power industry. There was a nuclear power plant in the nearby town of Takahashi. They decided that they had better go there first to see about schematic drawings of the power turbines and the switching yards that they would have to redirect power to the house through.  
  
Takahashi was only about 20 miles away, and it took no time to get there. Since there was no telling what shape the facility was in due to a lack of maintenance they drove up cautiously checking out the containment domes to see that they were indeed intact. Seeing that they were, they entered the administration area, and started looking for their paperwork. The file room was past two guard stations, and in a somewhat secluded part of the building. There were no windows in the room that led outside so the door was kept open to provide light.  
  
Wiring diagrams abounded. Mostly of the large-scale power converters, transformers, safety subsystems internal to the plant. Finally the found diagrams of the grid showing substations, switching yards, and plans for each. Pulling these rolls out of their drawers, they laid them out in the hallway to try and make sense of them. It was a dizzying array of wires and intersections, and switches and such. But there were simpler diagrams showing instructions for shutting down parts of the power grid from the supply side.  
  
While they figured out which switchyards they would have to visit, they munched on their meager lunch, and within a couple of hours they had their course of action figured out.  
  
There were 4 substations on the way to the house that would have to be checked out. Most likely they would have to just keep redirecting the power to only one sector at each until it flowed into the area they were in. From there they would likely have to find a way to hit the breakers on the transformers at each house in the area, thereby giving them access to every drop of power.  
  
These substations were in a relatively straight line from the windmill farm to their area. If they drove along the power line's right of way, it would be much faster than going down the highway trying to find out how to get to them.  
  
So with the cheese and crackers gone, they rolled the set of schematics up, and went outside to borrow one of the power company's trucks with a set of keys off of the key rack at one of the desks. The motorcycles were put in the lobby just in case there was a storm or high wind.

The small but powerful cab-over-engine trucks were packed with tools and spare parts of different kinds.  There were several manuals in the console mostly phone numbers and authorization codes. One however was a checklist for different types of tasks. It ran step by step for resetting tripped breakers, performing preventative maintenance checks and most other routine functions of the field guys.  
  
While Shinji made the drive out to the windmill farm, Asuka looked through the checklists. There was even one for switching power over to other circuits. On the system used by this power company the incoming line was run through a splitter that would then feed it to 5 or 6 other transformers to push the electricity out to the next box. All they had to do was shunt power from all of the circuits not concerning them at that splitter and they were good.  
  
The best thing though was the simplicity of the instructions. In an effort to make painfully clear to the worker how not to be electrocuted, each step was explained in very minute detail. Shinji remembered Kensuke telling him about how most armies of the world had started printing instructions on their equipment that was on a 3rd grade reading level. Some even had pictures on them to help out. Anyone could operate it.  
  
Asuka had read through the entire checklist a couple of times by the time they were pulling up to one of the wind turbines. The first switching station was situated across the road from it.  
  
It was quite windy out. Nearly 40 miles an hour. Asuka found that she could lean into the wind without falling over, and they spent a few minutes having fun trying to see how far they could lean without falling.  
  
The turbine was very large. Neither had been so close to one before. The blades where whizzing by making and from inside issued a sort of humming whirring sound, which was good. That meant that it was producing power. Wind turbines were not like windmills where you could allow the windmill to turn without pumping water. When turbines were shut down, the turbine locked down on the rotator shaft and the blades would not spin.  
  
They unlocked the gate to the switchyard and managed to locate the main splitter with little difficulty. However the hard part was getting the access cover off. The nuts on the bolts holding it down were old and nearly rounded, but with much effort, they finally got all four off, and lifted the access cover to expose the most amazing set of wires and conduits either had seen. Well maybe not. A lot of the equipment associated with Eva was even worse than this, only it was much larger.  
  
"OK it says insert the key into lock B and rotate to 'Change'." Asuka read aloud as Shinji performed the actions.  
  
"OK. That was easy enough."  
  
"Now set." Asuka studied the plans for this substation for a moment. "1, 3, 4, and 5 to 'Standby'."  
  
"Alright." This was easier than he had thought it would be.  
  
"Now while holding the red wire, on to the Main bus, cut the green and white wires simultaneously."  
  
Shinji's face fell. "What?! Let me see that." He grabbed for the manual.  
  
Asuka grinned deviously and held on to the manual. "OK, OK. Push the yellow button, then when the red button pops up, push it."  
  
Around them the steady hum of power diminished dramatically. Also, several unlabeled lights winked out as well.  
  
"It says turn key to 'engaged' and close cover."  
  
Shinji looked at her incredulously. "That's it? I would have thought that there would be more to it than that. You know, really high-powered technical stuff." He rotated the key, and closed the cover.  
  
"Apparently it used to be, but with advances in technology comes at least a certain level of automation for everything." There was that "I am a genius" tone again.  
  
"Well if that is all we have to look forward to, we won't have any problems at all. Except with these covers." He stated with a grunt. After tightening the last bolt down they closed the gate, and got back in the truck.  
  
So it went. The drove down the cleared right of way to get to the rest of the stations. It was pretty easy driving. The next two were almost if not exactly the same. It was nearing 4:30 as they pulled up to the final substation, and they noticed the clouds starting to move in. It looked like it might rain that night.  
  
The gate was closed but unlocked and they went right in. Shinji performed the change over while Asuka read the plans. He was just closing the cover and screwing it down when Asuka turned to leave, and was confronted with several large and menacing dogs. As she backed away they advanced, a few of them baring their teeth.  
  
Shinji paled and was unable to do anything as the lead canine tensed and lunged at Asuka, who still stood closer to them. He saw her raise her arm to try and deflect the flying dog, but it latched onto that arm, and bit down hard. Two of the others had moved just a split second after the first. One jumped at Shinji, the other attacked Asuka's leg.  
  
As the dog sprang at Shinji, he felt the adrenaline pump into his system. Unfortunately the dog made it to him before he could react well. It clamped onto his upper arm, and knocked him to the ground, shaking its head back and forth vigorously. Shinji felt the flesh tear a little in his arm, but it did not really hurt that much. Some dull pain did make it through the cloud of the adrenaline hormones.  
  
It almost felt like he was taking his time, but in reality it all happened in a split second. He raised the wrench he held, and beat the animal across the bridge of its nose, which it displayed very prominently to him. They dog veritably flew off of his arm, the upper part of its muzzle broke and bleeding.  
  
He rose to his knees, and pulled back to hit the first dog over the head. The sickening crunch was terrible. The animal collapsed instantly dead from acute brain trauma. With the back swing of the wrench he caught another dog in the side, breaking a rib, and possibly puncturing a lung. Seeing that two were critically injured and one dead, the remaining dogs scattered, nearly lodging themselves in the gate trying to get out three at a time. It was all over in a few seconds.  
  
Asuka lay bleeding, balled up around her arm, and wrapping her good leg around the wounded one. Shinji's own injured arm was nearly useless now that the power in liquid form was wearing off in his blood stream. He dropped the wrench, and huddled over Asuka, turning her over to inspect. The fire in his left upper arm was just starting to register. She had several deep punctures to her arm, some superficial bites to her leg, and a large bump at the back of her head where she had fallen when tripped up by the second attacker.  
  
It was very difficult to get her to the car. He could imagine how much pain she was in. As he was putting her in the passengers seat, she hung her head, and leaned in several directions, barely managing to stay upright. Shinji did have the presence of mind to retrieve the wiring diagrams and schematics from the ground.  
  
As he drove, he pulled Asuka down to lie in the seat. She swam in and out of consciousness, sometimes groaning, sometimes silent. It was a very fast 15-minute drive home. Shinji nearly lost control of the truck as he skidded around corners.  
  
After they had moved into the house, at one point they had stocked up on medical supplies. It was inevitable that something would happen and they would need stuff. A medical book had given an outline for the ideal medical supply stock to have around the house. They had also supplemented it with things that they would likely need that they could not afford to take the time to go into town for.  
  
Hypodermics, some of the more high-powered drugs, antibiotics, and some vaccines. That included human rabies immunoglobulin and human diploid cell vaccine as well. Several years prior advances had been made in the development of many of these vaccines that allowed them to be stored at room temperature almost indefinitely. So they were still useable even after the power went out.  
  
Shinji ground to a sudden halt in the driveway, and flung open the door of the truck. Pulling Asuka out, he carried/dragged her unconscious form inside, finding new strength in being home again.  
  
Since the beginning of this new life they had been living, Shinji had become a fairly knowledgeable medic. He pulled Asuka's shirt and pants off, and did not even register the fact that he now had her like this. Inspecting the wound closer showed him that there were really only three punctures on the arm. Two on top and one on the other side. The leg however was not so superficial as he had originally thought. The dog had lost a tooth in the wound when Shinji had hit it in the side, and it was still sticking out.  
  
Working quickly he gathered the supplies and went to work first ensuring that the bleeding had indeed stopped, extracted the tooth, then cleaned the wounds. Soap and water washed the blood away and helped to stop the possibility of rabies and other infections. He wrapped the arm tightly to keep the wound as immobile as possible. The leg was much the same way, but it would take a bit longer to heal. Afterwards, he gave her the immunoglobulin shot to her arm, and laid her in her bed in the bedroom with her head tilted to the side.  
  
Then it was time to work on himself. It was fairly quick work, not much to it, but he was starting to regret killing the one and wounding the other dogs. But there was nothing that could have been done, however. He had heard of the viciousness of wild dogs, and was certain that they would have killed he and Asuka both if he had not done something.  
  
With his upper arm and shoulder fixed, he gave himself the shot, and started packing away the supplies. He was in a lot of pain so he took a couple of painkillers, but they hardly helped. He picked up the ruined clothes, deciding to throw them away. They were bloody and torn open.  
  
While he was outside putting them in the garbage, he made a visit to the breaker box, and flipped the main circuit breakers to the house that were cutting off their outside power access, and the lights came on inside. He smiled weakly. It had worked. Now they would have to kill the power to the other houses around the area just to keep them from creating problems and wasting electricity.  
  
He returned inside to Asuka's room to keep an eye on her, but soon fell asleep. He was tired from the activity and excitement.  
  
Quite sometime later, Asuka awoke in her sleeping bag. The pattering of rain against the window was soothing, and it brought her comfortably back to reality, even if it was a painful reality. At first she had a hard time even figuring out where she was. Then with the pain came the memory. Shinji and she had been attacked by a pack of wild dogs. She turned her head groggily and saw him slumped against the wall, shirtless with a large bandage over his upper left arm. Then she realized she was nearly naked.  
  
She thought about getting up to put something on, but the sleeping bag was warm, and it felt soooo good. A few more minutes wouldn't hurt..


	7. DAY 29

**Life After Eva**

To keep characters straight when they are speaking to themselves in their dreams the character themselves will retain their name, the character in the minds of others with be noted with a prime. Ergo the Asuka in someone else's or perhaps another version in her own mind will be Asuka'.  
  
**DAY 29**  
  
Asuka swam dazedly in and out of consciousness. Her head hurt and a dull throbbing pain was emanating from several places on her body. At one point she found herself in her pilot chair, confronted with the scowling visage of herself. The Asuka in front of her was perched over the control stem that rose from the floor in front of her.  
  
"So, you had to have Shinji rescue you again." Asuka' stated flatly. "And I thought that you could do things for yourself. You should have seen how smug and satisfied he looked when he was taking care of you."  
  
"That is not true. Shinji would never be that way. Besides, I was just taken by surprise, I could have done it myself if I had been more ready." Asuka said trying to defend the boy.  
  
"You don't sound very convinced. I think that you maybe wanted him to rescue you. The helpless little girl who can't protect herself. She is always injured, and tries to act so self-assured. But she can't be her own person." Her words tore deep into Asuka's ego. She could take care of herself. She did not need any rescuing. Shinji might care for her, but she could defend herself.  
  
But she could not push him away. She really did enjoy his company, and she did not want to be alone any more. But the seeds had been planted. She worried that she might actually be weak.  
  
NO! She was strong, and she had shown that on many occasions. She did not need to punish Shinji for being noble enough to take care of her when she found herself off balance.  
  
But she had not been off balance. She had been beaten. She had just let him do all the work, and had not stood up for herself.  
  
Asuka' watched as her words and accusations took their toll. She did not want to be left behind because of some stupid infatuation with this boy. Then Asuka found herself floating back to consciousness. Her head hurt again, the pain returning, but at least she was back in her room.  
  
Shinji was awake and looking at her when she opened her eyes. They took a moment to focus, and she turned her head to see him. Her eyebrows drew down to hood her eyes.  
  
"Asuka? How do you feel? Does it hurt bad?" The worry showed plainly on his face, as he leaned over her.  
  
"Well, well. The invincible Shinji. I had wondered where you had gone. Always saving the day against all odds. Don't even think that you did me a favor by fighting off those dogs. I could have and would have had you hadn't stepped in." The venom dripped from her voice, and Shinji backed away momentarily as he wondered about the Asuka in front of him. She was even more like the old Asuka than she used to be. Contemptuous and cold hearted.  
  
Shinji looked at Asuka in wonder, his mouth agape. He had not seen this coming. But as Asuka turned her nose up at him, he surprised her as well. He narrowed his eyes, finally angry. He usually did not get angry at her, but he had been so worried about her, and she wakes up and treats him like this.  
  
Shinji's face reddened and Asuka watched him ball a fist up, and for a moment she was afraid that he was angry enough to hit her. She knew full well that her words had hurt the boy, and that she had shown him no gratitude for his quick action, that had probably saved her life. The look that he gave her was frightening. It was not just angry but furious. That she would say something like that to him after the past month that they had been through had totally taken him by surprise. It was proof enough that you could never understand someone totally.  
  
His voice was low, but Asuka heard it clearly, and almost shivered at its sound. "Asuka, I feel sorry for you. You will never know happiness, because you will never be happy with anyone. I like you Asuka, and I had thought that you might like me, or at least tolerate me. I guess I should have known better. If you don't need any help from me, I won't offer anymore." He closed his eyes for a moment, then stood and left the room.  
  
Asuka felt many things about what had happened. She was amazed at her own actions as much at Shinji's. She had no right to act like that toward him. She regretted her impulse to scorn him, but she held onto the lingering traces of that emotion wondering about it. What was the overwhelming compulsion to treat him as inferior? Why did he have to dominate like that?  
  
She lay back listening to the pitter-patter of the rain on the window, and the sound of trees swaying back and forth in the wind. Even though she had been unconscious for most of the previous night, it had not bee restful, and in only a few minutes, she was swallowed up by sleep, descending into the darkness as before.  
  
Outside, Shinji stood in the rain. It was calming somehow. Maybe it was the cold of the water, or the randomness of the noises. He was still angry. It galled him that she could be so heartless. He had thought that she had left that behind, had become someone who could accept people's kindness for what it was. Instead she had tricked him. She was still the spoiled girl he had known, conceited in that she thought that she was too good for anyone.  
  
Frustrated, he banged his fist on the railing of the porch, splashing the pooled water off of it.

Asuka opened her eyes to find herself back at the apartment. She was sitting at the dining room table staring across at herself. Asuka' had a slight smirk that she flashed at herself across the table.  
  
Asuka sat glowering at her alter-ego. "So who the hell are you, that you think that you can tell me how I should act?"  
  
"I think you know me. I used to be you. Then you turned your back on me because you thought you found something better." Asuka' darkened a moment, and then resumed her smirk.  
  
"Well I don't need you anymore. I did find something better, and I like it this way. I am happier with Shinji than I ever was alone, even if he is still shy and kind of spineless. At least he is honest with me. I don't want to hurt him like this."  
  
"You didn't enjoy it? That familiar warmth; the knowledge that you are above him? You should not have to let anyone do for you what you can do for yourself. You deserve better than him."  
  
"I think that he and I are pretty good together. At least better than I would be alone. When I woke up on that beach, he was there to get me out of the weather and bandage my arm, and cook dinner."  
  
"Aww, the little married couple-" Asuka' was interrupted as her more emotionally centered counterpart abruptly stood and swung at her, connecting evenly with her jaw.  
  
"I don't want you, I don't need you, and I never want you to interfere with me and my business again. What I do is for me to worry about."  
  
The girl on the floor found that she could not deny the power of the words. If her primary ego did not want her interference, she was no longer welcome. She melted into nothingness showing one last defiant look to Asuka as she went.  
  
Asuka sat back down wondering how it was that things could be so definite with something so indefinite as feelings and emotions. How could she quash an unwanted past ego like she was a real person? Where these personas of her self what she had heard Shinji talking about? The Shinji in her mind and whatever? She was the Asuka in her own mind. And Asuka' was the remnants of the old Asuka?  
  
Had the transubstantiation of Third Impact done this to her. Allowed for the incorporation of waste ego? Regardless she had dealt with it. When she woke up she would have to find some way of fixing what she had done.  
  
Shinji sat motionlessly in the comfortable chair that was aimed out the window. The rain fell in sheets over the lake. This day was markedly colder than the previous ones. That not only due to the weather. Shinji had thought several times of leaving Asuka here to her righteous self. It would serve her right to find only loneliness at the end of her gloating attitude.  
  
He heard Asuka's door creak open and softly close behind her. He was silent with his back turned to her as she walked up behind him. For a moment he was afraid that she was going to hurt him. To her thinking, his saving her was an insult. And she had only one way of dealing with things like that.  
  
Instead her hand rested on his shoulder. "Shinji?" It was almost a pleading request for attention. "I should not have been that way for you. You rescued me, and probably saved my life. You worried over me, and did your best to fix me, and then I threw it in your face. I never wanted to be mad at you. I just had some trouble figuring out what to think about it."  
  
Shinji looked up and smiled at her relieved that she was behaving like her recently normal self. He liked her this way. She was understanding and articulate. She could talk to him as an equal. She circled around in front of him, and took his hand, pulling him up into an embrace.  
  
She could not let him think that this was an act. Asuka realized that for Shinji to leave her would be a devastating blow, and she was surprised to find that it was not just due to her own fear of loneliness, but she dreaded the thought of being without him too. And here she had put that in jeopardy. She hugged him tightly despite the pain in her arm and leg, breathing into his damp shirt at his shoulder. "Please say something, Shinji."  
  
Shinji liked the way Asuka felt. It was warm, much as he had remembered his mother's similar embrace. He was acutely conscious of her arms circling around his sides, and resting in the small of his back. He put his own around her, and whispered into her ear. "You feel good Asuka." That was all he could really think about at the moment.  
  
She snickered a little, and replied. "You feel good too. I am so sorry that I acted the way I did. It won't happen again."  
  
The rain outside drowned out the rest of the whispered exchange that they shared.  
  
A while later Shinji looked at his watch; it read 4:30. Bleary eyed, he looked outside. It had stopped raining, but had remained overcast. Asuka was still on top of him. He had lain down in the easy chair, propping the legs up and laying back so that Asuka could hug him. She was presently straddled across him, nuzzled into the base of his neck. However, looking down he found that he had a great view of... He looked away. She was not wearing a bra anymore.  
  
Asuka was lost in Shinji's warmth. For a day that had started out with so much pain and anger, it had turned out alright. She knew that Shinji was looking at her almost exposed breasts, but that was of little importance. Let him look.  
  
Shinji rubbed his hands up and down her back, patting her every now and then. From now on, they would have to be a little more careful when outside. It had not occurred to him that without people, animals that had been domesticated would turn wild. While there was no direct evidence that the dogs that attacked them had been owned by anyone before, he realized the possibility. They would need to get some kind of protection.  
  
The obvious answer was guns, but he did not know the first thing about guns except firing really big ones like the pallet rifle and plasma sniper rifle in Unit 01. But where would they get guns anyhow?  
  
There might be a JSDF post nearby. They would surely have weapons. Maybe even a variety of stuff to choose from. At the moment the only thing that really mattered was the red headed German on his chest.  
  
Asuka raised her head, and looked at Shinji. "What is it?"  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"You moved a little like you wanted to get up." She smiled a little.  
  
"Oh. I was just thinking. We may want to think about getting some guns or something. I can't be carrying a wrench around everywhere I go, you know." He smiled back. "I think you should smile more often you know?"  
  
Asuka shrugged a little. "I have had more to be happy about recently than before." She backed off of him, standing up. The pain of her injured leg and the stiffness of her knees from kneeling straddled over Shinji was terrible, but it was worth it.  
  
"It could have waited. You did not have to get up."  
  
"Well if we want to do it today, we had better get going." She said looking outside.  
  
Shinji hurried to his room to change clothes as did Asuka. All she had on was a shirt and sweatpants, and if she was going outside, she wanted something a little more rugged.  
  
They were ready to go in about 20 minutes, and once Shinji identified the JGSDF post for their part of the prefecture, they drove off in the electric company truck to retrieve their motorcycles. If it had still been raining, Shinji would have just left the motorcycles at the power plant. The rain would have been too painful, as well as cold.  
  
Once they had the bikes back they made for the JGSDF camp. It was only a few miles outside of town. The Japanese Ground Self Defense force was nothing like its special ops counterparts. They had a few armored vehicles and less sophisticated equipment. But it was not for these things that they had come. It took a little searching, but finally they found the arms room. Unfortunately the door was locked with a large steel padlock with a huge casehardened steel sheath over the hasp, making it very difficult to cut.  
  
Within the admin area they found a key rack with a hundred or more keys, and set about looking for the one that would open it. None of them did. Then they found a safe next to the commander's desk labeled "Controlled Keys" in red. There was a key labeled the same, and within a few minutes they had the safe open, and a wad of keys that surely were meant for the arms room.  
  
A long skinny key opened the huge lock on the door, and once inside they found stacks of gun racks each one lock secured. There were M4 carbines, Steyrs, M9 pistols, as well as a few M249 SAW light machine guns.  
  
"Whoa." It was quite a selection of firepower. All in all they would likely be shooting most things at close range, so the M9 pistol made sense. But there was the possibility of going hunting in the future, so they would need a good high-powered rifle.  
  
"Do they have any bullets in here for these?" Shinji asked turning around. Asuka was already digging through a metal locker that was backed against a wall. Sure enough there was a metal ammo box with some bullets in it.  
  
"Rounds." She corrected when she found it.  
  
"Ok, rounds. How many in there?" He unlocked one of the racks, and swung the locking bars out of the way. "Want to fire one a few times before we take it? Try before you buy."  
  
"Hmm there are about 120 rounds. Sure. Are there any magazines around?" There were a few in the desk to their right, and within a few minutes, they had 10 rounds loaded in 2 magazines.  
  
Stepping outside, they took their respective M-4s and put the magazine in. Shinji fired first. Or rather he clicked. Turning the weapon over in his hands, he tried figuring out what had gone wrong.  
  
"Hey. You have to pull back the charging handle. Like this." She pulled back a handle located just in front of the buttstock, and released it with a satisfying cluchunk sound. "You have to load the first round yourself."  
  
Shinji mimicked the action, and was rewarded with the same sound. "Where did you learn that?"  
  
Asuka blushed just a tiny little bit. "Well I tried dating one of the security guys there at NERV. He showed me some things about the weapons they had. All of these are basically the same."  
  
That really didn't bother Shinji. He knew how she acted, and could not really fault her for it. Putting the weapon to his shoulder he - "And switch the safety lever." Asuka added. He looked on the side of the handle and sure enough there was a safety switch labeled SAFE/SEMI/BURST.  
  
He rotated the selector from SAFE to SEMI, and tried again. The weapon fired, and bucked in his hands a little. He had expected a lot of kick. The weapons in the Eva were quite strong, and they had a disproportionate amount of recoil when fired. It was also very loud. His ears rang, and it was hard to hear a little.  
  
He fired off several more rounds, getting used to the feel of the gun. Then Asuka took her turn. When they returned to the arms room, they decided to take a couple of the pistols too. There was no telling when they might need them. Also they collected the remaining rounds in the ammo can, manuals for both weapons, several magazines, and some odds and ends for both the M-4s and the M-9s, and stowed them in the saddlebags on the motorcycles.  
  
Just in case they ever needed to get back into the room, they left the rack keys inside, but closed and locked the door and kept the main door key with them. When they ran out of ammunition, they would have to find some more. As it was, they had better start home because it was getting dark.  
  
Once they arrived back at the house, they parked in the garage and went inside. They had gone most of the day without food, and Shinji did not really feel like cooking. Fortunately they had found some snack items at the local grocery. Shinji read highlights from the weapon manuals detailing normal capabilities, function and maintenance while Asuka ate. They sat on the carpeted floor stuff strewn about.  
  
"Wow, it says here that cyclic rate of fire is 800 rounds per minute. That is a lot."  
  
"Not really. They have guns that can fire much, much faster. Of course 800 rounds a minute is more than enough for me. We aren't going to be in pitched battle or anything."  
  
Shinji shrugged and kept reading. They would need to go back the next day and get cleaning supplies. According to the manual it was not a good idea to fire a dirty weapon. They could go and pick that up in the morning, and be back with enough time to trip the circuit breakers on the houses around them. There was no need really to do anything to the transformers when you could cut power to the house at the breaker box.  
  
They were both thankful that they had managed to get the power going again. Shinji was amazed that it had been as easy as it was. He realized also that he may have inadvertently helped Asuka to feel the way she had this morning. He had been taking charge for a while now, and it seemed to him that he was leaving her behind.  
  
"Asuka, you want to go back tomorrow? We need to get a few things. I had not known to pick up a cleaning kit."  
  
Asuka produced a small olive drab bag with a large bulge in the middle. "One like this?" She smiled. Just before they had left, she had snagged it figuring they would need it.  
  
"Yeah, one a lot like that. I didn't know you got one."  
  
"Well there are some things you just don't know about me." Her nose wrinkled and she winked at him.  
  
"Oh yeah? Like what?" Shinji put the book down. Was this flirting? It was meaningless banter, but he was having fun.  
  
"Well that would be telling, and that is no fun. Some things about a woman should never be told." She looked away, but watched him out of the corner of her eye.  
  
"Well how about. if I. TICKLE it out of you!" He sprang at her, toppling her over, and sitting above her, fingers digging lightly into her sides. "How do you like that?"  
  
Asuka laughed until her sides hurt, and she finally managed to get Shinji to stop. He was smiling down at her from above. She breathed deeply trying to regain her breath.  
  
"Asuka. I. I want to tell you something, and I don't want you to be mad ok?" He looked at her plaintively now, his smile fading.  
  
"Ok. I promise. You can tell me." Her tone growing serious.  
  
"I know that you probably don't feel this way, but I hope that you can understand. Ever since we woke up back there on the beach I have liked you. And that's not to say I never liked you before, but you are different now. I would like to think that you changed for me. I have tried to be the kind of person you want to be with. And. I guess what I am trying to say is." Asuka put her finger to his lips.  
  
"Shhh. It's OK. You don't have to." She knew what was coming, and it was exciting, but frightening at the same time. What do you say to something like that? How do you wrap your mind around something that big?  
  
"No, it is something that I want to get off my chest, and I have to say it now." He paused for a moment collecting the will to tell her what he wanted her to know. "Asuka, I love you. I have for a long time, but before I would never have told you. I hope that you won't hate me for saying that, but that is the way it is." He ended resolutely as if that phrase affirmed all he had said.  
  
Asuka swallowed hard. He had said the L word and there was not much that she could do about it. Did she love him? She knew that she liked him well enough, but for being 4 letters, love was an enormous concept. She had tried to comprehend it many times, and it had totally eluded her. That someone would like you so much that they would want to be with you forever? She had never really had a family, and she had toyed occasionally with the notion that Shinji could be her family.  
  
But life is not picture perfect like that. It would be nice if she could just tell him that she loved him too, and they could be like a family. But what would that mean? She couldn't think. She was hot, and frustrated, and she did not know what to say.  
  
"Shinji. I don't know what I feel. I am not good at this sort of thing. Being open I mean. You are going to have to give me some time to figure it out for myself. I guess. I can accept that you love me. But right now I don't know what to think." She sighed heavily, and hoped that what she had said did not hurt him. It would be her luck that she had just shattered the frail relationship they had been building.  
  
Shinji was a little disappointed. But Asuka had not outright rebuked him. She was unsure and rather than tell him what he wanted to hear and then realize later that it was not true, she wanted to explore her feelings and tell him truthfully. He smiled at her, and nodded, and hugged her tightly. "I will wait for you. I am sorry that I had to say that." The irony did not escape him that they were in the same relative position as when they had awoken on the beach. Only now embracing, realizing a relationship.  
  
He smelled her hair, and loved the way it smelled. When Asuka realized this is what he was doing, she smiled a little. "OK Third Child. That is about enough of that."  
  
"Could I ask you a favor?" Shinji said as he rose up. Asuka nodded. "Could you not call me Third Child anymore? I never really liked being a pilot, and I don't want to be reminded of that life anymore than I have to be."  
  
Asuka understood and nodded again. He had that right. She had seen some of the things that he had witnessed when her mind touched his during Third Impact. It had been frightening. He had released a lot of pent up anger and frustration during that time, and she still had not fully understood all that had happened. But the point was that he was no longer the Third Child.  
  
"Asuka?"  
  
"Hmm?"  
  
Shinji paused for a moment. "Do you remember when you were in the hospital?"  
  
"I remember going there, but I don't remember being there really. Why?" She tilted her head, wondering where this was going.  
  
"I just wanted you to know something." He paused again, trying to figure out how he could tell her. She was going to be angry any way she looked at it. "It was after I had killed… the seventeenth angel, and I visited you in the hospital. I had hoped that you might wake up while I was there. That would make me fell better. I think I just wanted to talk to you. The way you were, you could listen, and you would not be angry at me for saying what I had to."  
  
"Shinji, will you get to the point? This can't be that hard to say."  
  
She had no idea. "Anyhow, I wanted you to wake up, and I don't know how it happened, but I saw you naked, and I just. and."  
  
That had been a memory? Asuka had seen that, but she had thought he was relating that to something else that was going on. She had never even considered that he would do something like that.  
  
The understanding part of her grappled with the idea, and to a degree it grossed her out. It had happened, and there was nothing that could be done about it now. Shinji was obviously sorry for it, but that did nothing to rectify the situation. She felt violated. And in a very un-Asuka-like move, she forgave him that. She had been depressed before, and had come very close to killing herself. This, when you think about it, is even more of a perversion. Not sexually perhaps, but nonetheless it was taking something that was beautiful, and making it terrible.  
  
"Shinji. I don't want you to think that you got away with that. But it is just not something that I want to think about right now. I have enough to figure out to last me a while. Right now, I think it is late, and I think I want to go to bed. I am sorry that I could not tell you what you wanted to hear earlier, but sometimes one person is ready to love before another."  
  
Shinji took that as an indication that she wanted him to get up. Asuka climbed off of the floor, and hobbled to the bathroom. She wanted to take a shower before going to bed.  
  
"Good night Shinji. I like you, and I hope that you can live with that for now." When the door closed behind her, Shinji was grateful. He had worried for so long that he would never be able to tell her about that. He was ashamed that he had done it, and the only way he could feel any better about it would be to confess it to her.  
  
As he wandered to his room, he rolled her words over in his head. She might love him yet. She would be only the second person that had told him that they loved him. He was glad that it was her. She was exciting and vibrant, full of life nowadays. And he had a thing for that red hair too.  
  
The sound pouring out of the shower almost drowned out Asuka humming. She was singing some foreign tune to herself, and Shinji listened to the sound of her voice for a few moments. The splashing water stopped after a few minutes as Asuka stepped out of the shower.  
  
Shinji hurried back to his room, and went to bed before she toweled off and came out. He had said a lot tonight. He wished that he could have been more romantic. He had been mulling over the idea of love for the past few days, and knew that he indeed loved her. He never wanted to leave her, and he hated seeing her in pain. He found himself wanting to touch her tenderly, but he was unable to bring himself to risk her reaction. He wanted to be with her, but he knew that sometimes he was best off giving her space. Love was something that he could not understand. What made you love one person, and not another? And why did he love Asuka of all people?  
  
Kaji had told him that love by its very nature is not a definite thing. It doesn't have rules. There are no pre-qualifications. And there was really no denying it. If it was going to happen, it would happen. And it could do it without warning.  
  
The bathroom door opened, and light spilled out into the now dark hallway, then it abruptly shut off.  
  
"I'm sorry I can't answer you Shinji. Sweet dreams."  
  
Shinji lay there and wondered what the next day would bring him.


	8. DAY 85

**Life After Eva**

**DAY 85**  
  
In the two months since the dogs attacked them, Shinji and Asuka had healed quickly. Their bandages had come off and Asuka's arm had even stopped hurting. Shinji had been afraid of the possibility of rabies so he had administered shots to Asuka and vice versa.  
  
He had also waited for her. And the waiting hurt. He worried that every day that went by, the more Asuka forgot about his pledge of love for her. Had he been too quick to do so? To profess his love to someone who did not, and would not love him in return? They got along well enough. The occasional fight did spice things up a bit. Asuka had not yet gotten used to doing her share of the cleaning, and Shinji was tired of doing nearly everything himself. She had gotten better about it though.  
  
In the mean time, they both had noticed that it was getting colder. At first it was not so noticeable. Then one morning dawned and it was positively frigid outside. The day had worn on and turned into a regular hot day, but the next day dawned the same way. There was the possibility that as some point the Earth was coming back into its original alignment.  
  
With the prospect of winter came the alarm of being caught unprepared. As it was, they had no backup fuel, no snow vehicles, no cold weather clothing, no food stores, and most importantly, no real cold weather experience. Germany had been left with at least an autumn each year, but no winter. It would get around 40 degrees, and then warm up again. But if they were faced with a winter, there was no telling what they would be faced with.  
  
In the last couple of weeks Shinji had begun cutting and splitting firewood, culling the dead trees first. They had managed to find a hydraulic wood splitter in town. Asuka had started venturing into town to find things that would help them through the winter. She had stocked them up on canned vegetables and soups, canned meats, staples like rice, flour, sugar, and she had even managed to find an economy-sized bag of powdered milk. In one of the clothing stores, there was a section that was stocked with "cold weather gear" but it was mostly sweaters and such. She had improvised some large coats from a couple of windbreakers lined with several sweaters and down filling from pillows.  
  
This particular morning was cooler than normal. The house had gotten down to about 60 degrees and the thermostat turned the heating on. Shinji had begun having problems sleeping recently, so when it came on, he got up and started cooking breakfast. They had killed a pig recently and once Asuka had finished killing and dressing it, he had gone about butchering it. It was amazing what you could learn from books at the library. They had also found some chickens. Since they had two sheds outside, and one was only half full of stuff, they had cleaned it out, and stored what they wanted to keep in the other one. Then converted the first into their chicken house. Eggs were a luxury that they were not going to pass up. This morning, Shinji was making bacon and eggs with homemade bread that he would toast.  
  
They had both been very busy learning the skills that they needed now. He wondered why these things were never taught as a matter of course in school. There was never any telling when you would need something like this, and these skills would help insure your survival. Easy things like building a fire. Cooking and sewing.  First aid.  
  
While the bacon sizzled in the pan, Shinji was busy scrambling the eggs. The first time he had cooked eggs for Asuka, he had fried them, and she had nearly refused to eat them. She hated the way they oozed yolk out. The cooking pork smell had managed to drag her from her sleep, and soon she was exiting her own room to join Shinji.  
  
"Good morning, Shinji." She smiled at him as he turned to look at her. Then she winked.  
  
"G-good morning Asuka. How did you sleep?" He wondered what was up with her today. Usually she got out of bed at least semi-cranky and gradually got better as the morning wore on.  
  
"Oh, you know. I woke up a couple of times earlier on, but otherwise I was OK. How about you?"  
  
"I only got about 5 hours." He looked it too. Maybe it was just a temporary thing.  
  
"You making scrambled eggs?" She tried to look around him.  
  
"Yup. You should know by now that I only made scrambled eggs for you."  
  
Smiling, Asuka nodded and started washing plates from last night's dinner to put on the table. "Oh by the way, I checked on the LP last night. We need more."  
  
"Running low huh? OK I think I saw a LP truck around town a few days ago. I can drive it up here and give us a fill up. Probably should just keep it here too." Their heating, water heating, stove and range top all worked on liquid petroleum gas. If they ran out, they would be forced to resort to their wood-burning stove in the living room.  
  
The wood-burning stove was a soapstone freestanding stove with a catalytic converter. The catalyst would recycle the smoke and burn it too causing the stove to reach temperatures of 1200 and 1300 degrees or more. It also kept the chimney cleaner than normal. While they had not had to use it yet, they had made a trial run of it, and it had heated them out of the house.  
  
Shinji turned the bacon over, and continued mixing the eggs, then added a little salt, some pepper, and a few squirts of Tabasco. Even though the McIlhenny farm had been wiped out by Second Impact, bottles of the red hot liquid could still be found in many stores since their actual sauce producing fields had been in South and Central America. The ones in the United States were used to produce quality seeds.  
  
With the bacon done, Shinji put the bread in the toaster and then poured the egg mixture in and stirred the increasingly fluffy substance. Within a minute or two it was ready, and he put it on plates, grabbed the toast, and sat down with Asuka for breakfast.  
  
"Mmm Shinji, you know I like your cooking. This reminds me of Germany."  
  
"Glad you like it." Shinji said wolfing down the food. It was quite hot, but it was good. It was also over in only a few minutes. But they were full, and you could not ask for much more than that.  
  
After Asuka had put the dishes in the sink, she stepped outside, and found that it was much colder than they had thought. The thermometer said it was nearly 40 degrees!  
  
She went back in after only a few seconds. "Shinji, we had better dress more warmly today. It is pretty cold out there, and with it overcast like this, it probably isn't gonna get much better."  
  
Shinji agreed, and headed for his room to get the jacket that Asuka had made for him. It was warm and very comfortable. He also got some thick work boots that she had found for him. They had insulation in them that would help if he were out in the cold and wet for too long.  
  
He joined her back in the living room, and they left together. This time out, they left the motorcycles, and took the truck that they had gotten. It was a four-wheel drive, just in case there was something they absolutely needed after the winter was in full force. Asuka drove it into town with Shinji in the passenger seat. She needed to get used to driving.  
  
Even though they did not find the LP truck that Shinji had seen, they did manage to find the LP filling station that serviced Okayama and the outlying area. It had three 20,000-gallon tanks and after checking their fill gauges, they found that they were nearly full. There was also a tanker truck there, but it was empty. Shinji hooked the truck's filling hose up to the tanks, and began pumping it full of the gas. He was careful to make sure that the connections were secure and that no spark would ignite the fuel. It would likely take out a half-mile square if the holding tanks blew up.  
  
Once the truck was filled, he disconnected then waved to Asuka to signal that he was ready to go, then climbed in the cab of the truck and started it up, slowly following Asuka back into the mountains. The roads were good which made traveling easier. Since they had come here, they had taken the time to push the wrecked cars out of the way to make the roads more passable. It had only taken a day and a really big truck. Most of the burned out cars were just shoved to the side of the road.  
  
It took about a half hour to get back to the house, then another half hour to fill up the tank and park the truck. Shinji threw a tarp over it so that when it did snow, the snow would not sit on the truck all winter. They had collected numerous tarps so that things would not be exposed during the snow, and they could be easily cleaned off.  
  
Once this was done, Shinji went inside to warm up his hands, and he retrieved a book on industrial electronics that he was using to wire up a huge uninterruptible power supply to the house. On the occasions the wind died down at the power turbines, they lost electricity. It did not last long, but it was getting increasingly annoying. SO they had spent some time searching for a UPS system that would be big enough to run the entire house, at least for a few hours. According to Asuka's figuring, this one would hold charge to run everything in the house for about 16 hours. They did not really use that much electricity, and the huge thing did hold one heck of a lot.  
  
Unfortunately it was a special piece of equipment, and things like this generally don't come with instruction booklets. They are handled by professionals who know what they are doing. But the book he found helped him out a bit. Asuka was cutting insulation to line the water pipes with when he went outside.  
  
He cut power to the house at the transformer, and went to work, connecting the UPS to the main line in, and then feeding a line out to the breaker box in the house. It took nearly an hour, and when he was done, he called Asuka out, and together they flipped the breaker, and turned the UPS on. It took a moment before it started supplying power to the house. When it had charged enough, they would test it out. But that could wait until later.  
  
It had taken a full day for them to get it up to the house. A full day, a big truck and a huge forklift to be exact. The UPS was a self contained light tan box about 15 feet long, 5 feet wide, and 6 feet tall. It now sat on a concrete shelf that barely managed completely support the system. It lacked just an inch from extending the full length under the unit. Fortunately the eaves of the house managed to cover a bit of it, and Shinji rigged a lean-to tarp over the rest of it extending out from the wall of the house. That would keep it out of the elements.  
  
While he was finishing this up, Asuka was heating some soup for lunch, and in a few moments he joined her for lunch. It had steadily been getting colder all day, and the clouds had darkened a bit too. It was only the beginning of October and it looked like it was threatening to unleash on them.  
  
"I am kind of surprised how quickly it is starting. Only a few days ago it was hot. I hope that it doesn't get too bad." Asuka said as she slurped her soup.  
  
"Yeah. I think that the wood we have should be enough, plus we have the gas, the electricity, the clothes you have gotten together, and we have a lot of food. I think we will be alright. About the only thing we need to worry about now is cabin fever." Shinji munched on a cracker between spoonfuls of soup.  
  
"I thought that was what we got the snow mobiles for. And if we can't get out on those there is always the sno-cat. I think we pretty much have everything covered. I only have a little more insulation to put on the pipes underneath, and that won't take but another hour." Asuka smiled at Shinji as he tried to lick a little splash of soup off of his cheek. It had been a lot of fun working with Shinji on this house. They accomplished a lot in only a short amount of time, but they had done it together, and with only a few complications between them. When she had told him earlier that she had slept well the night before she had not bee entirely truthful. She sat awake last night thinking about the boy.  
  
No. He was not a boy anymore. He had had a birthday a few months back and was now 15. But regardless of age, he was now the master of his own destiny. He was making his way in a hostile world, and he was responsible for his actions. He was a man. He was a good man, regardless of his deeds in the past. He still had spells of depression, but he was not nearly so bad as he was. He would just be more quiet than normal. She liked the man that he had become. He was smart, he was capable, and above all he was hers. She stopped at this thought. She had never reciprocated his profession of love. And yet she thought of him as hers. It struck a wrong cord in her. She really had no right to do that until she told him how she felt.  
  
She had come to the realization that she truly loved him only a few days ago, and she had really not meant to keep him waiting, but she had never found a way to broach the subject. He was surely agonizing over how long she was taking with this. Soon, soon she would tell him.  
  
"Asuka?"  
  
She snapped back to reality, and realized that she had been staring with a spoonful of soup raised to her lips for more than a minute. Quickly she drank in the cold soup and resumed eating, blushing very slightly.  
  
"Asuka?" Shinji asked again.  
  
"Um, yeah?"  
  
Shinji smiled because he knew she had not been paying attention. "I said I like your soup. It's good."  
  
"It's nothing. All I did was heat it up."  
  
"Well it is still good."  
  
Asuka finished her soup without looking up again. When they were both done, Shinji put the dishes in the sink, and they went back to work. Asuka headed back down under the house to finish insulating the pipes while Shinji went back out to finish splitting and stacking the firewood. The work was good because it was easy, and it let him think. Sometimes he would split by hand.  There was a double bladed axe in the toolshed that he used.  It was soothing work.  Mostly these days he thought about Asuka, but sometimes he thought about the people he had known.  
  
Rei. He missed her. Even if he had never had any more intimate interaction with her than speaking on an operational or philosophical level. There was a simple beauty in her that escaped him. It was unquantifiable. She had been the biggest enigma of his life. He assumed that if he had somehow been with Rei instead of Asuka, he could have fallen in love with her too. She was a stable pillar in the sea of chaotic tides that was the world.  
  
Misato. She was quite a woman. A slob and a role model at the same time. She had taken him into her house when he had been content to be alone, and even though he had been close to her all that time, she had never intentionally hurt him. She had her bad points, but all in all she was a beautiful person.  
  
Gendo. Even though he had never been close to him, with the insight that was brought him by Third Impact, he at least understood him a little better. But his actions, while understandable could not be condoned. He did not hate his father, but he did pity him. He had allowed one bad event lead to countless others.  
  
Touji and Kensuke. He missed his friends dearly. They poked a little fun at him, but they both had hearts of gold, and would have stuck by him till the end. He had mourned their loss from the start. He had mourned all of them from the beginning. But the initial shock and denial, and the time for mourning were over. Now he had to get on with living, and salvage something out of his life. If he was will Asuka, he thought he could be happy. And indeed he had been.  
  
Asuka listened to the steady chunk sound of the wood being stacked outside. She resolved to tell him that night, but she was still at a loss for how she could do it. She was great at confrontations, why was this one so hard for her. She just wanted it to be meaningful for him. Something that would show him rather than tell him that she loved him.  
  
The long scar on her arm was still hard underneath but it had long ago stopped hurting. She remembered Shinji taking such care to do for her the best that he could in a difficult situation.  
  
She cursed herself for not wearing gloves. The fiberglass insulation was itching the hell out of her hands, and it was pissing her off! With the last pipe done, she crawled from under the house just as the first few flakes of snow were flitting down from above. Shinji was covering the wood having stacked the split pieces in a sizeable pile.  
  
He spied Asuka. "Not a moment too soon. Look at that." He said pointing.  
  
Asuka looking in the direction indicated, and she could not see the next mountain over. The snow was not coming, it was already here. They covered up the splitter, and walked inside where they watched the snow. Neither had seen snow up close before, and they found it kind of peaceful. Even more so than rain. Snow floated down, and softly touched down on the ground then a moment later it melted.  
  
It was not long before the melting snow started to stick. By the time it began piling up it was getting dark. Here it was September and it was snowing like this. They both prayed that this was not an indication that it would last even longer next year.  What would they do if the Earth turned to eternal winter?  
  
Shinji spent some of the time cooking. They had liberated several pounds of butter that was sealed in its package, so they could bake and cook with it without fear of contamination. Shinji flipped through the cookbook, looking for a good idea for something to make. He stopped in the cookies.  
  
"Asuka, what do you think about Oatmeal cookies?" He looked up to see her turn to him smiling. God, he loved to see her smile.  
  
"That sounds good, can I help? I haven't ever made cookies before."  
  
"Sure! Come on over, and wash your hands." Shinji was busy getting ingredients out while she washed. Soon, Asuka was mixing things together while Shinji was checking the oven. They made the dough, and dropped it on the cookie sheets, and when they were safely inside the oven, he started the timer, and they shared a couple of cups of tea.  
  
"You know that is kind of fun. The dough was a bit gooey, but otherwise it was cool." Asuka said taking a sip.  
  
"Yup. It is good to try something new, you might like it. I hope you like these cookies. I put in just a little more brown sugar than I normally do, they will be nice and sweet." Shinji yawned and looked out the window at the snow. It had snowed about 2 inches according to the pile on the porch.  
  
Asuka nodded and looked outside too. It was very dark out, but she had grown used to this darkness. In the city there is always light around you, but out here, with no one else around, the darkness could be complete. They had found a pair of night vision goggles at an electronics and technology store. They were pretty new, and she had gazed up at the stars through them several times since. Through them you could see ten times the stars as even on the clearest night out here.  
  
The timer dinged and they pulled the sheets out of the oven and let the cookies cool. They had made four dozen cookies, and when they were cool enough, taste tested a whole bunch of them just to make really sure they were fit to eat.  
  
With a couple of cookies each, they turned off all of the lights, and watched the snow together on the sofa. It was very quiet, and only the soft wind made any noise at all.  
  
Shinji was sitting very close to Asuka, and he found the circumstances on the whole very emotionally moving. He leaned on her, very slowly adding his weight. She knew what he was doing, but welcomed it. Was this what life was all about? Sharing beautiful moments like this with someone you love. Being able to recall things such as your first snow with your only love many years later? She hoped that this is what made life special because it felt special to her right now.  
  
Shinji leaned closer and whispered in her ear. "I love you Asuka. It is getting late, so I am going to bed. I will see you tomorrow." And then Asuka's chance was gone. It walked down the hallway and shut it's door behind it.  
  
She watched the snow alone for a half an hour. It continued to pile up on the porch. The hole in her heart ached so severely now. She had told herself that she would tell him, and yet she had let the opportunity pass her by, like so many before it. She longed to be with him, and then she had it.  
  
She stood and padded softly down the hallway, stopping in front of his door where she listened for a moment. The sound of his light snoring filled the room. The door squeaked a little as she opened it, so she did it quickly so that it would squeak as little as possible. She closed it the same way. She pulled off her socks and pants, and got in the sleeping bag with him. It was cooling off in the house, and she cuddled up to him, wrapping one arm around him.  
  
She scooted up just a little to reach his ear, and whispered into his ear. "I love you too, Shinji. Sweet dreams." And then she went to sleep herself.  
  
That night was most likely the best night of sleep either of them had ever had. They had each other, whether one of them knew it or not, and that was all that mattered.


	9. DAY 86

**Life After Eva**

I would like to acknowledge a few people who have helped me out on this little venture. Dennisud- for giving me good ideas, and allowing for some extra conflict between our hero and heroine. Datexan- proofing my terrible typing and alerting me to the little mistakes that riddle my stories. All those people who write the reviews- You guys are what keeps me writing and posting. Your positive reviews and your constructive criticisms keep me writing until the wee hours of the morning.  
  
**DAY 86**  
  
It snowed through the night but the occupants of the bedroom were oblivious. Shinji woke up an hour or two after midnight. He had originally woken up because he had to go to the bathroom, but he found that he could not move. A certain redheaded roommate was latched onto him from behind, and from the soft feel of the leg wrapped over his, she was missing a crucial article of clothing.  
  
One of her arms snaked under the pillow, and wrapped around his chest, the other wound over his other side, and her hand rested at the base of his stomach, dangerously close to a provocative area indeed.  
  
It was not hot in the room, in fact it was getting pretty cool, and Shinji was sweating. What had happened? He had gone to sleep alone. Asuka had come in sometime in the night and come to bed with him. Perhaps she had made her decision and figured this was the best way to say it. Maybe she had stayed up really late and had just gotten rooms mixed up. Maybe it was too cold to sleep alone.  
  
Whatever the reason, she was in his bed, and she was pressed up against him, and it felt really good. He slowly turned, easing himself slowly out of the sleeping bag. He went to the bathroom and was back quickly. Slipping back into the bag, he snuggled up to her, facing her, and nuzzling his nose into her neck. She was warm and just the feel of her next to him made him feel better about everything around him. For the first time in the last two months, he fell back to sleep after waking up in only a matter of minutes instead of hours.  
  
The snow continued to fall until nearly 4:00 AM. It had piled up on the porch high enough to make exiting the house a little difficult to manage without letting snow spill into the house. The outside landscape took on a much more smooth appearance, distorted by the thick three foot covering of the white powder.  
  
Asuka awoke first that morning. She watched her companion resting easily beside her. He was not smiling, but she could tell that he was happy in his sleep. After a while, his eyes slowly made their way open, and he looked into hers. He smiled at her then, and even without words so much was expressed between them.  
  
Shinji knew then that she indeed did love him. The wait had been worth it, and he was not disappointed. Here he was waking up for the first time next to the woman that he loved, embracing her in his sleep. They held each other for long time, changing around every now and then when limbs fell asleep.  
  
Finally Asuka couldn't take it anymore, and she caught Shinji off guard, kissing him. It was not the fearsome kiss that they had shared some months before, but soft and inviting. Shinji found that the previous attempt at kissing had not really prepared him for that real thing. Asuka had a taste about her that he could not describe. And something as simple as her tongue sliding past his produced a sensation that felt so wonderful. He did not know how long they kissed, but he did know that it was very arousing, and soon Asuka noticed too.  
  
Surprised she pulled away a little, and put her hand on his chest. "Hey now, what's going on down there." She could joke about it a little, but the prospect of sex still did not ring right with her. She was not sure if she was ready for something like that. "I don't really think it would be a good idea to get ahead of ourselves Shinji. Let's take it slow and be a little careful, huh?"  
  
Shinji visibly relaxed at this. He was worried that by going too quickly, pushing the relationship along, they would inadvertently cheapen the feelings involved. He liked it this way. He could enjoy it and savor it.  
  
"But just cause we aren't having sex, that doesn't mean we can't be fooling around!" Asuka grinned evilly at him, and kissed him again. "Oh, man, we had better get up. It is getting late. Besides I am pretty hungry, how about you?"  
  
Shinji's stomach growled in answer. He looked at her, memorizing her look and feel. She was beautiful like this. Unadorned and unrefined. She had a rumpled shirt, and semi-wild hair, but there was a smile on her face, and warmth in her heart.  
  
They got up then, Shinji watching Asuka as she wandered to the bathroom. He dressed in clean clothes as she washed up. When he went into the living room, he was amazed to find the huge snowfall outside. They would have to rig something up so that future snowfalls did not pile up against the door.  
  
He heard the water run a few seconds in the bathroom, then Asuka went to her room to retrieve clothes of her own. He looked through the kitchen and decided to have oatmeal for breakfast that morning. It was easy, fast, there was lots of it, and it kept well. Plus it was filling. He put some water on to boil but did not turn on the stove and readied some bread in the toaster.  
  
Asuka appeared, brushing her hair. She hit a few snags, but soon had it flowing in long red tresses again. "Wow. Looks like we aren't going to get much done outside today."  
  
"Yeah, I was thinking that myself, although I need to go out to the chicken house in a few minutes. It might be getting a little cool in there now, so I was going to put an electric heater in there."  
  
"Better put something around it like some wire or something. Those stupid chickens will burn themselves to death on that thing. By the way, you want to try going down to the hot spring with me? It might start out cold, but I bet it will be worth it."  
  
Shinji thought about it for a second. He had seen Asuka venturing down to the hot spring several times a week. She would spend an hour or more down there, soaking up the warm water. "Sure. I would love to. Should I wear my bathing suit?" He was still a little unsure around her. Would she want him naked? Would she be naked herself?  
  
"Well, if you really want to. I wasn't planning on you wearing it." She grinned at him again.  
  
"But I thought we were going to hold off on... you know... sex." It was a difficult idea for him to get used to. He had never been close to anyone before so the idea of sex was foreign to him. At one point he had even been convinced that he would never meet the expectations of any girl, and he would be destined to be alone. He would have to visit a soapland or something if he wanted intimate contact. He felt the blush creeping into his face.  
  
"Yeah so? Just cause were naked, doesn't mean we're having sex, Shinji." The grin turned devious.  
  
Shinji had to turn away to keep Asuka from seeing how red he was at that thought. She knew exactly how embarrassing that was, but she did not need to see. "I think I am going to go take care of those chickens."  
  
Asuka turned him around, and planted another kiss on him, then let him go. "Can you cook the oatmeal while I am out? I will be right back." He spent a few minutes bundling up and getting gloves and tall boots on then went to the door. It was a five minute battle with the snow to get out. First the door wouldn't open, and then there was an ice crusted wall of snow that barred his way. He managed to step over it, and get outside before starting his assault on the pile. He cleared most of it away so that you could open and close the door well enough and step outside without too much trouble.  
  
From there he got under the house and located the space heater they had stored down there. It had been in the shed to begin with, but they took it out to make space. There was also some chicken wire. He took the stuff over to the shed and set it inside then went to the other for the wire cutters he would need.  
  
Back inside the chicken shed, he setup the electric heater and surrounded it with the wire, then cut a piece out and crimped it over the top so that they would not sit on top of the heater. He set it on a low setting, which should keep them warm enough then collected the eggs for the day.  
He put the wire cutters back in their place then headed for they house, stomping his feet off before entering. Asuka was stirring the oatmeal just as he walked in. The smell was delicious.  
  
"What all you got in there?" It was a nice medium brown.  
  
"Brown sugar, sugar and some butter. That is the way I always liked it made for me back home."  
  
The toast popped up, and they sat down with it all to eat. About halfway through the meal, Asuka was startled by a foot nudging her calf. Shinji was playing footsie. She looked over at him, and he wrinkled his nose and smiled.  
  
"Oh, I see what's going on here. " She reached under the table far enough to squeeze his knee. Shinji erupted in a fit of laughter. Only a few more such exchanges later, they were done with breakfast washing the dishes.  
  
"It is a good thing you insulated the pipes, Asuka. Otherwise we would be out of luck for water I bet." Shinji dried oft the last of the dishes, while Asuka looked proud of herself.  
  
"Thanks, Shinji, I was kinda hoping it would work out. We might want to leave a faucet dripping a little to keep it flowing."  
  
"OK." Shinji picked up a cookbook, and thumbed through the pages. After a couple of minutes, he turned to the deserts and started leafing through them instead of regular meals.  
  
"Hey, good looking. Whatcha got cookin?" Asuka looked over his shoulder as he flipped page after page.  
  
"Just looking to see what might be good. How about this?" He pointed to a page. It was Hungarian Coffee Cake.  
  
"That looks good but kinda strange. What is it?"  
  
"Well it is sweet dough rolled into little balls. Then they are dipped in melted butter and covered in sugar, brown sugar, and pecans. I think that I saw a bag of store bought pecans in the pantry. Anyhow, the balls of dough are put in a bunt pan and they bake together. When it is done, you pull them off too eat them."  
  
"That sounds good, can you make that?" Asuka's mouth watered at the sight of the picture.  
  
"Yup I am sure I can. I have never made one before, but I can cook pretty good I think."  
  
"Can I help?" She looked at him with hopeful eyes.  
  
"Sure! Let me get everything together before we start." Asuka stood back as Shinji went to work gathering ingredients. It was a sizeable list, but fortunately Shinji had stocked up on staple items a few days before, if he hadn't they would be dangerously close to running out of a few things by making the cake.  
  
He took a mixing bowl out and they started making the dough together. Shinji took the amorphous mass and covering the bowl with plastic wrap he placed it in the warmed oven to rise.  
  
"OK, now if you would take this pan and melt the butter over there, it should make quite a bit. Do it slowly and don't let it boil. I am going to chop these pecans and mix the sugars." He handed her an aluminum pan and set to work chopping the nuts. Once he had about a half cup, then he mixed the sugars and added a little cinnamon. Asuka was pouring the melted butter into a bowl.  
  
When all was ready Shinji greased a bunt pan. They waited a few more minutes, and then he checked on the dough. It had nearly doubled in size, so he took it out, punched it down, and brought it over to the table.  
  
"OK, ready to get your fingers dirty? You get the fun part."  
  
Asuka nodded with a broad smile on her face, and sat down at the table.  
  
"Alright. I am going to make this into little balls then dip them in the butter then drop them in the sugar. You roll it in the sugar and the nuts then put it in the bunt pan. Best to try and make several rows of them before starting to stack them in there."  
  
They started the assembly line production of the balls of dough. It took only about 10 minutes to fill the bunt pan. Shinji took the remaining butter, and drizzled it on top of the topmost layer of dough, then sprinkled the rest of the sugar and nuts over that. He set the pan back in the oven to let the dough rise again.  
  
After they washed their hands, he sat back down next to her and put his arm around her. He had still not heard the words he had longed to hear from her. "I love you, Asuka."  
  
She froze. Three little words were all it was, but they had so much meaning about them. For several days now she had known that she loved him too, but those words were still hard for her to say. She leaned close and whispered as though she did not want anyone else to hear. "I love you too, Shinji." And then she kissed him again.  
  
Shinji was starting to like this being intimate thing. Every time he kissed her it was like he was floating ten feet above. She was intoxicating to him, and it was a thrill he was sorry he had never known before. They made out at the kitchen table for a little while, even going so far as to let their hands wander, but not too far. The bell on the over dinged, and Shinji pulled back for some air.  
  
"Got... to take the. dough out. Heat the oven, and let it bake."  
  
"You just wait a second there, mister." She pinched his side, and gave him another kiss, slapping his butt as he walked away.  
  
Shinji pulled the pan from the oven, then heated it to 450 degrees. He put the pan in and let it bake for 20 minutes and sat back down while giving Asuka an impromptu shoulder massage.  
  
"You know, Shinji, I think I am going to put you on full time, even give you a raise. That feels so gooood." Shinji kneaded knots out of her muscles, and hit pressure points that hurt for an instant, then felt wonderful afterwards. All too soon, the bell dinged again, and he rushed over to pull the cake out of the oven.  
  
It sizzled as it continued to cook while cooling down. The dark brown crusty texture of the outside belied the soft bready inside. Shinji let it cool for about 5 minutes, then put a small cutting board over the top of the pan, and turned them upside down, letting the cake sink onto the board. With the pan in the sink, he went around cleaning up what was left of the mess, while Asuka watched the cake cool.  
  
"It should be just about right now, take a piece, try it."  
  
She pulled a piece off, and bit into it. It was ooey gooey heaven. And the outside was crusty and crunchy. "Oh, my god, that is soooo good. Shinji you got to try this."  
  
Shinji tested a piece too and thought it was great too. They ate nearly a quarter of the cake before they knew what happened, and Shinji exercised great self control, covering the cake, and shielding it from further Asuka pickings.  
  
"Want to go down to the hotspring, now?" Shinji asked. It was still just a little daunting. So far as he knew she had never seen him naked. Unless she had peeked during their nude synch test.  
  
"Yeah! Lets take the snow mobile down there. That is a bit far to be trudging through that deep snow."  
  
They packed up a couple of towels and sponges and soap, put some clean clothes in there, and added a hot water bottle in the middle of them to keep them warm. Then they bundled up a bit, and headed outside.  
  
The snowmobile was parked next to the garage, covered with a tarp. On their way there they picked up another tarp to put their clothes on and just have a fairly even ground without snow on it to change on when they got out of the water. It was likely to be really cold, but that was the price to pay for the heaven that was the hot spring.  
  
The ride down was uneventful. Shinji was a quick learner with vehicles these days, and it only took a few feet of driving the machine before he had it down pretty well. They parked not far from the shore, then walked over and set the tarp down. There was actually no snow for several feet leading up to the water. The water was warm enough to heat the ground and keep it from sticking.  
  
Asuka began undressing right away. Shinji averted his eyes just before Asuka pulled her shirt off, but was relieved to find that she was wearing a swimsuit, albeit a skimpy bikini. She finished undressing before he was halfway through, and took the liquid soap and scrubber with her to the concrete seat. Shinji pulled off his clothes, in no real hurry other than to get out of the cold. He had a pair of swim trunks on that would cover at least a little of him. Asuka was sitting in the water with only the top half of her head above the surface.  
  
Shinji gingerly lowered himself into the hot water. Asuka was being quiet, but at least she was smiling. He could live on that smile alone. No sleep, no food, no water. Just that smile. Come to think of it the smile was less a happy smile and more a devious smile.  
  
Asuka reached over and grabbed Shinji's hand, pulling it over to her. Where he expected to feel the fabric of her swimsuit, instead he found soft silky smooth skin, curving towards her body on all sides. Shocked, but curious, he let her guide his hand, stroking it down her body passing over her navel. As it continued further south, tried pulling away, but her grip was surprisingly tight. Or was it that he was only pulling half-heartedly?  
  
Either way at the hint of a few soft curled hairs, he managed to regain control of his hand. He pulled it back to him, rubbing his fingers against his palm. He could still almost feel the skin beneath his touch. He looked to Asuka who was looking at him, her smile gone.  
  
"I. I'm sorry Shinji, I just wanted to have a little fun, you know? No funny business, just some fiddling around."  
  
"Asuka, I just don't want something like that to lead to sex. I want my first time to be romantic and nice. Playing around is fine later, but I want to be serious for a while, OK?" Shinji knew that Asuka wanted to have sex. She was a normal teenage girl, and her hormones were raging just as well as his were.  
  
She scooted closer to him, and laid her head on his shoulder. "OK. I didn't mean to upset you. Can I still wash you, though?"  
  
Shinji saw that one coming. But what was the harm in it right? He was on to her now, he could stop it if it went too far. "Yeah I guess. You really want to?"  
  
"Sure why not? If I wash you, will you wash me?" She was smiling again.  
  
Shinji thought about that one. It was one thing to allow her to wash him. But he would be touching her. Of course he had been only feeling like this for so long. Now he needed to start acting on them. To date he had never touched a girl intimately, even to wash her, with exception of a few seconds ago and that one morning in Rei's apartment. That was a distant memory.  
  
"OK."  
  
Asuka frowned, but said nothing. Shinji was starting to be melancholy again. "Shinji I know that you may not really like this, but I want to be close to you and you are not making it easy for me." She paused for a moment looking at Shinji. He was just about to say something when "And don't say you are sorry. You can make it up to me by being enthusiastic about this whole thing."  
  
Asuka stood on the platform, rising out of the water. The clouds had started thinning out and the sun came out a few minutes before so the light shone off of her wet body. Shinji thought she was beautiful. She sat down on the step, handing the soap and scrubber to him. "There you go."  
  
The scrubber was made out of lufa gourd that had been sewn onto a towel like rectangle of cloth. You could slip your hand into it to make it easier to wash. Shinji sat behind the girl and soaped up the scrub glove. He gazed at her skin. It was smooth and soft looking, and he could see the steam rising off of it in places. She hunched her shoulders forward, presenting him with more back to wash.  
  
He washed back and forth all down the back. Asuka obviously liked it either from the scratching or just the feeling of being touched like that. He took each arm and washed down the length of it, being careful not to irritate the long scar on her left arm.  
  
His hands slid around her front, washing over her breasts. They were small and firm, and he chastised himself for enjoying it. Asuka turned her head and saw him out the corner of her eyes. She could tell that he was smiling, and she moved her head back to rub the side of her face against his. It felt good to have someone touch her that way. Someone that she could trust and love, and who would love her in return. She felt sorry for putting the boy in a position that would make him feel bad. She had manipulated this situation to her own gain, that of a little petting, and had made him more insecure about what was going on.  
  
She placed her hands over his, and stopped him from washing. She was covered in white soap suds, and while it had felt wonderful, she wanted Shinji to feel at ease. Maybe some soothing words. "Shinji. Mmmmm. That felt great."  
  
"I am glad you liked it Asuka. Are you sure you want to wash me? I mean."  
  
"If you don't want me to that is fine." She felt Shinji nod his head, and considered the matter settled. Shinji hugged her from behind, and listened to her breathing.  
  
They stayed like this for several minutes, then Asuka moved forward, and sat back down in the water to let all of the soap rinse off. With the differing temperatures of water mixing right there, there was strong convection induced currents that allowed the soap to flow quickly away. Shinji sat beside her, tentatively stroking her soft skin, moving his fingers in circles. He was quickly growing used to the thought of touching her skin. He slowly, almost imperceptibly stroked his hand along the underside of one of her breasts.  
  
"Hey now, if we are going to do that, we need to go back to the house, and get back in bed, I think." Shinji sheepishly withdrew from her breast. The warmth of the water was great for Shinji. It caused his muscles to relax. He had been wound up so tight for so long, that allowing a relaxing time was just what the doctor ordered.  
  
After another 15 minutes or so of quiet contemplation in the water, Asuka reached over and touched his arm lightly. "Shinji? You ready to go."  
  
"Yeah. This was nice. I liked it." They stood and moved back to the shore. The tarp holding their things became their dressing area. Asuka was still mostly naked, and Shinji watched with great interest while she redressed. While it was a little embarrassing, she saw that he not only had a curious look in his eye, he also had a rather growing bulge in his pants. He noticed her looking, and his face got red, and he apologized a couple of times.  
  
It was a short ride back up to the house, and then they stored the snow- mobile and covered it. The house had warmed up considerably from the sunshine now streaming in through the windows, and it was not long before they even cracked a window to let some of the heat out.  
  
The day was waning and both of them were getting hungry. Another quarter of the Hungarian coffee cake was quickly devoured, then Shinji told Asuka that he was going to lie down for a while. She smiled as he went into his room. Maybe this was him saying that he wanted her to come in so they could fool around.  
  
She eased the door open, and saw him laying there. He looked up not really betraying any emotion and saw her, lifting the covers for her to get in. She noticed he had only boxer shorts on as well.  
  
Asuka quickly undressed again, leaving only her panties on, and slid into the covers next to him. She noticed immediately that he was still semi hard, and her presence was having a profound effect on a certain body part. She straddled him, wrapping her arms under his, and leaned down to kiss him. They kissed like this for what seemed like a long time before Asuka rose up, and placed a hand on Shinji's chest. She slid it down, and felt for him, and wrapped her hand around him. Shinji reached up to her, and stroked her soft breasts, wondering at them. He wondered why he had not wanted to do this earlier. Of course he had not really had the chance to do it much earlier either. He stroked the nipples and licked at them while Asuka played with him. It was very arousing, and they soon decided to stop if they wanted to hold out any longer.  
  
Both of them rested, Asuka lying on top of Shinji. She liked listening to his heartbeat. It had a soothing effect. The rhythm was slow and natural. They had both had fun exploring each other. Shinji had been fascinated by the fact that he could please Asuka, having never known anything about pleasing a woman before. Asuka too had enjoyed playing, more like tormenting, her lover beneath her. She was careful to only excite him but not really arouse him.  
  
No words were spoken, they kissed occasionally that being the only communication between the two, and it was enough.  
  
Much later both teens emerged from the room, and Shinji closed the window that had been opened. It was getting cooler in the house, so he decided that they could have a fire in the wood-burning stove. While he went out to get more wood, Asuka loaded the washing machine with their collective laundry.  
  
Shinji had learned how to build fires from Kensuke. He had learned many useful things from the boy while he had known him, and was thankful that he had learned them. Within minutes, the fire was roaring, and in half an hour it was going well enough to engage the catalytic converter. There was a thermometer on the top of the stove, and Shinji watched as it slowly climbed its way from 600 degrees to well over 1200 in just a few minutes. Occasionally soot buildup that had accumulated on the inside of the stovepipe would break loose and fall down into the stove where it would be burned again.  
  
Shinji sat and watched the fire for a minute or two, then Asuka turned off the lights and joined him. "Shinji, you think we could talk?"  
  
"Sure, what did you have in mind to talk about?"  
  
Asuka sat on the floor next to him, and reclined against the foot of the easy chair, drawing her knees up. She looked over at him, and was quiet for a minute. "When did you start loving me, Shinji?"  
  
He took a few moments to contemplate it. "I don't know. I think that I have always loved you at least a little bit, but I just started loving you more since we have been here together."  
  
"Did you ever think about what our children might be like if we ever have any? I mean would we be good parents?"  
  
Shinji thought about this for a long time. He knew where she was coming from. They always said that you are just like your parents were, so what kind of parents would that make them. They would just have to make sure to be good ones. "I... I think you would be a great mother."  
  
Asuka smiled at this. She had hoped that he would say something like that. It was only recently in her life that she had wondered about her future and her offspring. Would she ever have any? Who would they be? And what could she do to make them the best they could be? "Shinji, I love you." She had a very concerned look upon her face.  
  
"Is there something wrong, Asuka? If there is, you can tell me, OK?"  
  
"Nothing wrong. I have just been worrying, that is all."  
  
"About what?" Shinji was worried. He did not like seeing Asuka unsure of herself. It was such an unnatural thing. She was normally very self-assured.  
  
"I just got to thinking a little while ago about kids, and I want to have some. Not right now mind you, but sometime in the future. And I just didn't know what to expect or what is going to happen or anything. I think about things like that and I get worried. Did you ever get the feeling that we are here for some specific purpose?" She waited for his nod. "I just sometimes think that I am going to screw it up."  
  
Shinji drew her closer to him, putting his arms around her. "Hey, it's OK. It is alright. You're allowed to doubt yourself occasionally. I think we may have been left here for something, and maybe along the way we will figure it out. But regardless we can't just start second guessing ourselves and tormenting ourselves about messing up."  
  
Asuka's uncertainty about their future weighed heavily on her mind. Somewhere deep in the back of her mind, she had known that she would fall in love with him. Where did this love come from? Had she seen the qualities that she was attracted to in this boy? It was true that he had changed since they had reemerged into this world.  
  
But what next? A family? To what end? Practicality was her forte, and the idea of a family was not practical. The simple truth of it was that if they had children, who would they have children with? Each other? While the thought of incest was certainly not appealing, that was the only idea that she could come up with. And what of their children? Would they then be problematic? The risk of physical deformation and mental problems was too great to risk on something like that, right? But then, what of the fate of humanity? Would they die out like this? Afraid to propagate for fear of dooming future generations?  
  
Perhaps these questions would be answered in time. But she did not see what the answered could be.  
  
And what of all of this technology that they had? They knew next to nothing about it. And assuming they were able to figure ways of getting past the family problems, how could they teach their children about all of this stuff enough to run it and maintain it when they themselves did not know about it. They needed a major repository of information the problem was that she did not know where something like that would be, nor how to get there.  
  
Shinji was running his fingers through her hair. It had grown longer, and was reaching further and further down her back. This long mane of fiery hair. Red was a good color, and he liked its texture too. Asuka liked the feel of him combing it out with his fingers; it was like a gentle massage on her head.  
  
The sun had gone down long ago, and even though they had not done really done anything that day, they were a little tired. It was probably because they did not do anything all day. Asuka wondered about this. Maybe they should make up for it by being active that night.  
  
Shinji stretched and popped his neck. Well, maybe it was time for sleep instead. Shinji took a quick bath while Asuka sat on the side of the tub dipping her feet in.  
  
"Shinji, do you think that I am just a little girl? Misato always said I was."  
  
"Maybe you were, but I don't think you are now. It also depends on how you mean. Physically? I think we are both still children. I mean I am 15 and you are about to be 15 too. We both still have a long way to go before we're grown. But if you're talking about emotionally or even cognitively I think we are both adults. We are doing what adults do. Scratching out an existence, and we are responsible for our actions. That is what being an adult means to me."  
  
"Maybe." Asuka swirled her finger around in the water, making little wakes flow out from it. "I am just... I can't make up my mind about something."  
  
"Well you know you can tell me about it, right? I have always wanted to hear what you think." Shinji relaxed into the tub. The cold tile contrasted sharply with the hot water.  
  
"I know." Asuka stalled while she thought about what she would say. "Its about having sex." Can't get more blunt than that. "I want you really bad, but... I just don't want to turn something beautiful into something we might be sorry about. I mean what if I get pregnant? Or what if I rush you into it and it just doesn't hold the same meaning for you?"  
  
Shinji understood. He had thought a lot about this while he was hoping for her to love him. When it came to pregnancy, there was always something to be done about that. Man had been trying to circumvent the whole situation for time immemorial. Of course there was nothing in the house that would help with that. They would need to get to town for contraceptive supplies. And in the snow there was little chance of that except with the sno-cat.  
  
As for her disappointing him, he was worried about disappointing her too. Of course he figured there was little that she could do to disappoint him. He could understand, if not immediately he would eventually.  
  
"Well, lets hold off a little longer OK?"  
  
"But that is just the thing, Shinji!" She stopped abruptly realizing that she was getting loud. "I just. I am going to go crazy, I want you so bad."  
  
Shinji smiled at that. If someone had told him 6 months ago that he would hear those words from Asuka some day, he would likely have laughed. There was no way that it would happen. Yet here they were, in love, and unable to show it in the sublime form that couples normally did.  
  
Shinji stood and toweled off, trying to keep from showing too much of himself off to the girl. After he put some shorts on, he and Asuka went back to the living room and sat in front of the wood-burning stove.  
  
"We could always go to town, and raid the doctors office. I am sure they have some form of contraception there."  
  
"Yeah, but what if it does something weird to me? They have to prescribe that stuff; you can't just pull it off the shelf."  
  
"Well with all the stuff we have been through, we will check it out OK? They have to have some kind of system for prescribing it, and whatever it is, we can do it. Which would you prefer anyhow? They have that old pill, but they have started using the patch more nowadays."  
  
"Patch?" Asuka had heard of it, there were even girls in the grades above hers that had used it, and they swore by it.  
  
"Yeah, Supposedly it lasts all week, and simpler to remember too. I hate taking pills, but a patch is a lot more comfortable."  
  
"Well." Asuka was kind of antsy about taking medications. Even if they were just hormone suppressants. "We'll see. I'll behave myself OK? But you better do the same. If you get me in the sack, I'll have to hurt you!" Her grin was enough to tell Shinji that she was just playing, but that she was serious about being good. Not that he would try to get in her pants without her permission anyhow.  
  
Asuka let loose a monstrous yawn, and that induced an identical yawn from Shinji. "Of course you know that we will still sleep together." Asuka put in with that sly look in her eyes. "And I still get to play around with you."  
  
Shinji grumbled for a second. "Well, then I still get to play with you too. And that does not just mean your breasts either. Hah!"  
  
"Fine!" Asuka jumped up and raced for the back of the house. Even with her slight lead, Shinji managed to over take her, and give her a good tickling for her trouble. Since the stove was closed down and would simmer where it was for several more hours heating the rest of the house, they decided to call it a night. After a quick teeth brushing, they were both in the sleeping bags. They had connected the two of them to afford more sleeping room. One of these days they would go get a bed or a large futon.  
  
Even with the talk they had been having all day, it was hard to restrain themselves. A couple of times Asuka was ready to throw caution to the wind. But Shinji, ever aware of their situation, stopped her short. They did have fun though, and the breathing got heavy for a while, but when it got too warm in the sleeping bags, Asuka opened it up, and let in some cool air. She lay beside Shinji catching her breath and biting his arm a little.  
  
"I love you, Asuka. You know that?"  
  
"Yup. I love you too Shinji." She bit his arm hard to prove it, and lay back looking at the ceiling.  
  
"You know I think this has been the most pleasant day that I have ever had?"  
  
"I am glad that I could be a part of it with you, Shinji."  
  
They talked about movies, and people they had known and funny things that they had seen or done. Despite their apparent sleepiness a while ago, they chatted away until after midnight, when finally they went to sleep. Asuka woke up a while later to find Shinji nuzzled in between her breasts. It was a little funny to her, and she wrapped her arms around him and fell back to sleep.  
  
ADDENDUM Soaplands- Soap lands are basically like a brothel. But more than that, they are a place that cater to the customers wishes. The women are generally given room and board and well kept. Some of these have specific themes. Basically a guy goes to one, and if he knows of a girl that he likes, he can ask for her. The name Soapland comes from the kind of cover story that they are a private bathing place where the women bathe the customers, but everyone knows better. Sort of to help their image I guess. Anyhow it is legal prostitution.  Not to be confused with love hotels.


	10. DAY 146

**Life After Eva**

**DAY 146**

Shinji slipped out of the house and crossed over the hard packed snow that covered the walkway from the house to the garage. The snow had melted and fallen several times since the beginning of the winter, and that had allowed them several trips into town for needed items. Another space heater, lighters and flashlights, batteries, more cooking utensils and things of that sort. On one such trip, Shinji had made a secret detour to get some other things that he needed. These were the most important of all.

The garage had been partitioned and one half turned into a shop area. It had all manner of machines. Woodworking, metal lathes, cutting and welding torches. Shinji did not know much about any of that, but for his purposes he could manage with what was at hand.

The early dawn light was filtering in through the window, and he flipped the light switch on. The florescent bulbs hummed monotonously in the still shop. Every thing was kept neat and tidy, no shavings on the floor, no tools out of place; the owner of this house had been a stickler for neatness. The tall metal wall locker in the corner had a fairly new padlock on it, one that Shinji had obtained to keep his live-in love from entering the metal case.

Unlocking it, he opened the doors with a little squeak, and began pulling out the items that were stacked neatly in a box. A book, a portable torch that was clamped in place on a stand with a base, and most importantly several gold rings that he had selected from one of the abandoned jewelry stores.

It had been nearly a week ago that he had realized it was closing in on Asuka's birthday. He wanted to give her something special; something that would show his love for her, at least a little bit. He had fiddled around on the metal lathe for days trying to make the form for the ring. And even before that, he had kept himself awake one night to get a good measurement of Asuka's finger. He had once heard that it was best to measure things like that when you had just woken up since fingers and toes were swollen a bit, but it could not be helped. He would just have to fudge a little.

The form was made out of a piece of stainless steel that he had lathed a small slender circle into, nearly an inch deep. Then he cut it neatly in half so that when he poured the molten metal into it, he could cool it then extract it. But before he would be doing any of that he wanted to refine the metal.

Most rings did have a fair amount of gold in them, but they also had a good amount of filler too. To remedy this, he was going to smelt the rings and get the purer gold to make the ring out of. A large sturdy metal workbench sat opposite the metal cabinet, and with the powerful lamp that accompanied it, it made the ideal area to work in.

Using some large "C" clamps Shinji fastened the base and torch assembly to the table, then flicked on the light and waited for it to pop and flicker to life.

Shinji had taken the book from the library after reading several chapters of it, and going over the things that he would need to produce the gold that he wanted. According to the text before gold started being leached and electrolyzed, it was fluxed to get the impurities out. This entailed melting the gold alloy (or in the case of the text the gold ore) and adding flux to it to pull the impurities to the op while it cooled. Then the flux and base could be chipped off and the process could be done again.

He dipped into the box once more, and produced a small black bowl that had the consistency of cast iron. It had been very hard to find, but it was worth it. The black lead crucible was pretty heavy for its size. He had managed to find a metallurgical supply in town, and this was the smallest one they had.

The night before he had measured out some borax and niter that would be used as flux. They mixed easily enough, and he set it aside so that it would not be in the way. He wanted to be extra careful when smelting and casting the gold. One wrong move could result in disfigurement and even death.

Since gold had such a high melting point, it was necessary to cut the rings into small pieces and pile them into the crucible, then heat them that way. Otherwise they would shed heat too quickly to melt. Grabbing the sparking igniter, he turned up the gas on the torch and lit it, bringing a hissing flame into being.

The mount that it was attached to allowed him to swivel it down so that that flame was directed into the middle of the crucible. Within minutes, the pieces of gold alloy were melting together into a growing pool of bright yellow.

He started applying the flux, and stirred it in with a stainless steel rod he had liberated from the store. The flux mixed easily burning a little as it mixed. It added a brown color to the pool then as it continued heating it turned a nice medium red, and swirled a little. Shinji turned off the torch, and let it cool. In a moment, the flux began floating to the top, now black instead of the white yellow it was when he put it in.

He took the tongs, also black lead, and picked up the crucible, tipping it into the mold he had made. There was a thin coat of oil on the inside of it to help the gold set in the cast. Otherwise it would bond with the cast and then both the gold and the cast would be useless. He quickly, but not hurriedly poured the molten mixture into the cast, and was rewarded with the burning oil smell. The surface of the poured gold turned black.

After only a second, he released the clamps holding the cast firmly together, and managed to work the still hot, but not molten, gold out of it. The slag chipped off easily, falling away to reveal a bright shining yellow surface. He then dunked the cast gold into a bucket of pickle, which was just water and sulfuric acid. The sulfuric acid was surprisingly easy to find. It was kept in varying concentrations in a chemical supply place just down the street from the metallurgical establishment.

He let it sit for a second then dunked it into plain water. He was left with a half inch thick ring of gold. He turned it over in his hand imagining what he would do with it, what he would shape it into.

The library book had gone into exacting detail about how to accomplish the smelting and fluxing process, but it went even further when it came to shaping and polishing. With the wide array of machinist's tools and metal working stuff that he had in the work area, he figured he could accomplish whatever he set out for himself.

But time intruded. His watch beeped. It was 8:00 and Asuka would be getting up soon. He had finished with the more worrisome part of the crafting, Shinji had half expected Asuka to interrupt him in the middle of it, probably asking him to come back to bed. He had spent nearly an hour already, but still had more to do. He would get to it later. Now it was time for breakfast.

Most of the pieces he could pack back in the locker, but the still hot pieces he left out, tucked away so they could cool unnoticed. He locked the locker back up and walked back in the house.

This house had been good to him and Asuka. They enjoyed warmth in the winter and cool in the summer. Whoever had built it had been very good at what they did.

Back inside, he started preparing his usual miso soup for himself and toast with homemade jelly for Asuka. He was just putting the jelly on the toast when his redheaded companion stepped out of the bedroom with a yawn.

"Hey, Shinji. Where did you go? I woke up and you weren't there."

Shinji felt bad for doing that. He did not like hiding his intentions from her, but if he wanted the ring to be a surprise it would be necessary for him to fib just a little bit. "Oh, I couldn't sleep so I went and messed around in the workshop."

"Oh, did you make something for me?" She smiled at him brightly, hugging him from behind.

Shinji froze. Maybe she was just faking the fact that she just woke up. Maybe she knew all about the ring, or his intentions to make it for her. But if she knew about it, she would likely confront him directly about it, not try to pry it out of him deceptively. "Well, I just kind of messed around. Did not really work on anything at all."

"Oh. OK. I see you found more strawberry jelly." She was eyeing the delicious looking toast. They had located stacks of jars of jelly and preserved fruits in a pantry that connected to the kitchen. Asuka had thought they had run out of the strawberry, but apparently they had not. It was her favorite.

"Yeah, there are actually a couple of jars left. They were mixed in with other fruits. I think Mr. Takaeda really liked the strawberry too, he had quite a bit of it."

They sat down and ate in near silence. Shinji nearly spat out his soup when Asuka reached under the table surreptitiously and squeezed his knee. He was slowly growing used to the spontaneous displays of affection that she would bestow on him. A few days ago she waited for him to take a shower and she silently snuck into the bathroom naked, and hugged him from behind while he was washing his hair.

He missed regular baths. While he liked her affection, he did not really like being snuck up on, and it is much more difficult to sneak up on someone quietly sitting in the bath.

"Shinji, I just love the way you turn so red when I do things like that. It is so cute." She did not know why, but the fact that he was embarrassed by that even if there was no possibility that anyone else would see was like bread and butter to her.

In an uncharacteristically bold move, Shinji squeezed Asuka's knee, but not in the affectionate manner Asuka had. He squeezed a few inches away, and Asuka erupted into a fit of laughter unable to help herself. Shinji had learned of her most ticklish spots, and exploited them when he had to. He really loved hearing her laugh. Especially when he was tickling her.

They washed dishes together and Shinji told Asuka he was going to go organize some things in the workshop. He was back there a moment later, pulling the wide gold tube out of its hiding spot, and set up on a different table, this one with a view of the side door of the main house, so that he could watch and see if Asuka was coming to check on him.

Rather than cut the band down the rotational axis and produce two rings (presumably so that if he messed up he could have a spare), he decided to make one ring that was a bit wider than normal. He wanted it to be something that would be totally his.

But what to put on the surface? He thought about that for a while trying to describe Asuka in a word that would befit her. And then it struck him. He had been thinking about moving a heater into the room. Fire. Asuka was like fire. Nearly everything she did was a personification of it. She had a mighty temper, and she could flare up instantly. And yet she was warm and friendly when soothed. And let's not forget that hair.

He envisioned flames dancing around the band, licking at the edges, maybe even extending past the edges just a little bit or, standing out from it. It would be difficult, but he was committed to it. But first he wanted to look at some still pictures of fire before trying to put it on the ring. He was rummaging through a box when he found a fire log that had some illustrated fire on it, and it looked exactly like what he wanted to do.

He put the fire log on the worktable, and looked up just in time to see Asuka closing the door on the house a few feet away from the door to the garage/workshop. He stashed the unworked ring and picked up some tools and started putting them away. When Asuka opened the door he looked over to her, surprised to see her.

"Is there anything I can do in here Shinji?" She looked around inquisitively. She wanted to help, but she sensed that Shinji wanted to be alone for a while. He had been alone a lot lately.

"Umm, no not really Asuka. I think I have everything under control." He really hated lying to her like this. But he wanted it to be a surprise for her and he could not risk her finding out about it before it was time to give it to her. He wanted her birthday to be perfect.

"Oh, well, if you say so. I am going to go down and take a bath OK?"

"OK, I will be right here. Have a good bath Asuka."

Asuka was a little disappointed. She had kind of hoped that he would join her. They had been really restraining themselves for the most part. Taking separate baths or showers. Keeping the making out from getting too hot and heavy. But it was not easy. "Well if you change your mind and want to come be with me, that is where I am. Or you can just come peek at me for a while too." She smiled and wrinkled her nose and shut the door as she left.

Shinji heard the snowmobile roar to life a few minutes later and speed away for the lakeside. He was safe to do as he pleased for a while. Taking the soon-to-be ring in hand, he began carefully etching a fire design into the surface of the gold. He messed up a few times, but the gold was pure enough that it was malleable and it was fixed with only a little effort.

Asuka sank slowly into the hot water. The M-4 carbine she brought wither her was sitting on a couple of chunks of wood that were atop the platform, keeping it out of the water. They had seen a bear roaming around not long ago, and even though she had heard that bears only attacked when provoked, there was no harm in being ready if something happened.

She sat quietly wondering about Shinji's erratic behavior of late. He had been keeping to himself a lot recently and she could not help but think that it was her fault. Had she made him feel uncomfortable with her loud boisterous enthusiasm? He would rather be away from her. Maybe he did not love her anymore.

She sighed and rose out of the water, soaping her skin, and washing slowly deliberately. With the exception of meals and sleeping at night, for the past few days he had been staying away from her, and it had her worried. Maybe it was nothing, but maybe it was everything. Maybe he was trying to figure something out for himself, and if that was the case, it would be best to just give him space so that he could do his thinking.

She finished washing, and sat back down in the water, letting the soap float away from her in the water.

Shinji finished tracing the lines of the flames into the gold. But the lines were not enough. He took out the set of chisels he had collected in town a few days previous and set to work making the lines of the flames come to life in relief. It was hard work, and he had to be extra careful to make it look just like what he had envisioned. With the exception of a couple of flames that just did not look right, he did well. He shaved the excess gold off of both sides and as an after thought made several flames on both sides curl around the edge of the ring.

It was very nice looking like that, unique in design and especially meaningful because he had made it specifically for her. This was not the creation of some unknown craftsman. This was a ring made by a boy who wanted to show his Asuka what he felt for her. The edges and peaks of the flames were still sharp so he took some fine silicone carbide sanding paper and smoothed off the sharp edges a little, making the ring's design flow more like water. Liquid flames dancing in an endless circle around it.

As a final touch, he put the ring in a clamp with cloth between it and the clamp. He had meant to etch something into the inside of the ring, and he stopped to think about what he should put. It took only minutes to decide, and with a shaky hand he carefully etched five words into the semi soft metal.

When he was done with it, he wrapped the ring in a small piece of cloth and put it in a little cardboard box that she would never suspect. Then he cleaned up his mess, raked up all of the gold flecks and put things back in their place.

Asuka had still not come back yet, so he wrote a quick note and then went outside to the 4-wheel drive to make another quick trip into town.

Asuka heard the truck drive away, and sadly wondered if Shinji had finally left her. She did not know why she had sunk into this semi-depression, leading every thought with a pessimistic view. He was not leaving her. He would not do that to her. They needed each other right?

She stood, and let herself drip for a minute in the frigid air. The sudden difference in temperature was always exhilarating, but today, it just brought to mind the coldness of the lonely feelings she had felt before she had her Shinji.

She walked back and dried and dressed, quickly jumping into clean clothes, then racing the snowmobile back up to the house. After grabbing all of her stuff, and covering the vehicle, she went inside to find Shinji's note on the table.

_Asuka,_

_I have run into town for a few minutes to get some things. I should be back in a little while. I hope you had a nice bath, and I did not come down to peek at you, although I would have liked to. Be back soon._

_I love you_

_Shinji_

She read the last part over again, savoring the final four words. He did still love her. Her stomach rumbled a little, and she cut several slices of cheese to tide her over till lunch. They had found the cheese at a shop in town. It was good cheese, not the imitation stuff, coated in paraffin. Asuka had been a little apprehensive about it at first, but it was good cheese.

What had started out a sunny morning was starting to darken a little bit, as it grew overcast. In a while, the four-wheel drive truck rumbled back up the driveway, and parked in the garage. A few minutes later Shinji came through the door. Asuka had been expecting him to come in with some things in hand, but apparently he did not have anything.

"I thought you were going to pick some things up."

"Um, yeah, I could not find what I needed."

"What did you need?" She popped another piece of cheese in her mouth.

"Well you know. I wanted to get some things to read cause I am getting bored sometimes." Asuka saw that he was grasping at straws. He had not expected to be questioned when he got home. And why should be. He had the right to go wherever he pleased right? Of course, she pretty well knew what this was all about now. He must have gone and picked her up a present for her birthday tomorrow or something. She was dense sometimes, but she was not galactically stupid.

"Oh. OK. You didn't bring anything back with you?"  She asked looking him over.

"Fraid not. Are you getting hungry." Shinji quickly shifted gears to get off the subject.

"I was, but I think I can wait a while now. I had some cheese."   
  
It was early afternoon, and Shinji set about making oatmeal cookies in the kitchen while Asuka busied herself with housework. She had been taking it easy the last couple of days, just so she could be lazy a little. But clothes had piled up and the place had gotten a little bit messy.

The lights flickered a few times as the electricity shut off and the UPS took over. Then the power would come back. One time during the last two months, they had gone up to the wind turbines because the power had stayed off for more than 4 hours. If it did not come back on soon, the UPS might not support them much longer. It had turned out that they were having a difficult time dealing with the snow, but with the help of some colder weather oil they had managed to get the three they were using back up and running again. There were 27 of them spread out over the ridgelines in the area. If they only used three they would have many spares if they broke or were somehow unable to produce power.

Once Shinji was done with the cookies, he let them cool as he started an early dinner. Tonight they had pork stir fry with frozen vegetables that they had managed to pick from a farm not far away. The pungent smell of soy sauce and onions and peppers flowed throughout the house and stung her nose.

Shinji loaded the rice cooker and let the main course simmer for a few minutes while he came over, and draped his arms over Asuka shoulders from behind, and lightly kissed her on the neck. Asuka yelped as he lightly bit her earlobe, and turned around and playfully hit him. The brief distraction afforded him the chance to relax with her for a moment. He had been worrying over her birthday for so long, that he had almost forgotten what it was like.

The bell on the rice cooker dinged and it switched from its cooking mode to its warming mode. Asuka got up and set the table, smacking Shinji rather hard on the butt on her way to the cabinets.

When the rice was ready, Shinji spread in evenly on the plates, and spooned the pork stir fry on top of it. They talked a little about this and that, not really caring much about the topic, until Asuka asked Shinji what he did all day. He gave her several "umms" and stutters, but effectively evaded the question. Asuka smiled to herself. He must have picked her up something for her birthday all right. Regardless of what it was, she was touched that he was trying so hard to surprise her. She would have to act surprised when he gave it to her.

After the table was cleaned off they settled back to watch a DVD that they had gotten for the TV/DVD combination that they had hooked up. It was an action movie, and it appealed to Asuka, but Shinji was interested more in the girl he had sitting next to him. She pretended to be interested in the movie, tormenting the boy, but she kept him interested in her easily enough. Show a little skin in certain places, and you can glue a boy in place for hours.

While the hero kicked and punched his way to freedom from the crime syndicates clutches, Asuka almost let her shirt fall open enough to see a whole breast, and she had Shinji's full undivided attention. It was hilarious to watch, but she almost felt bad for doing it. Shinji leaned closer, and whispered to her.

"Why do you do that to me."

Asuka gave her most sinister smile. "If it's so bad, then you are a glutton for punishment. I think you like it." He did like it, and so far as he was concerned, there was nothing wrong with it. He wondered when he starting liking things like that so much.

They cuddled together and tried to make sense out of the last 10 minutes of the movie where the final fight occurred and somehow beating the hell out of 50 people could be shown to contain moral value.

With a lack of useful things that they could accomplish at night, they had started going to be much earlier, of course both teens found that the extra sleep did wonders for how they felt all day.

Asuka had taken to sleeping in Shinji's room well enough. It took all the restraint the two frustrated teens could muster to keep from having sex each night, but to help cope, they made up for it with what could be termed as heavy petting. Either way, this activity certainly made the nights more bearable than they had previously been for either one of them. Where their nights had once been lonely and cold, now they were exciting and wonderful.

It was after one such episode of this action that Shinji waited for Asuka to fall asleep, then he slipped out from under the covers, and ventured to the garage to retrieve several items. It took a while to prepare them, and get everything ready for the next day.


	11. DAY 147

**Life After Eva**

Acknowledging Tex and Dennisud once again. You guys rock. Thanks for your help.

**DAY 147**

Asuka opened her eyes to the bright light of day. The light streamed in through the windows illuminating the room with a few wispy snow flakes lazily floating by. The space next to her was empty of the Shinji that usually slept there. It was cold so he had been up for some time. She sat up, and that was when she saw it.

It hung on a cross shaped hanger, holding the sleeves out straight. The kimono was brightly colored with lots of warm tones of red and yellow. It was a flowery pattern with butterflies on it too. The sleeves were long, almost coming down past her knees, and the belt that accompanied it was a deep blue that added stark contrast to the ensemble.

Beneath the hanging garments was a small pamphlet that explained much about the traditional clothing of Japan. This particular style was called a furisode. The length of sleeves was indicative of her marital status, and the vibrant colors where more to show her age than anything else. The sash was called an obi. She examined it, and found that it was quite long, about 12 feet, and it was nearly a foot wide.

There was also a nagajuban, it explained, as well as a haori that would serve as underclothing. It illustrated how each piece was worn and gave step by step instructions on the placement of each layer and folded piece. Also there were instructions on how to tie the obi into different knots. Most of these were very elaborate, and Asuka could not even follow most of them. But there was an easy looking all purpose one that she figured she could manage.

There was an empty hanger next to hers, that undoubtedly had held another kimono until a little while before. Shinji must have gotten up quite early to set all of this up for her. She had not expected him to get her clothes such as these. They were elegant and light, made out of top quality silk, and tailored to perfection. She disrobed, casting t-shirt and bra to the side, but she decided to at least wear underwear. The clothing covered everything else. The nagajuban was like a slip, covering her top half and hanging loose at the bottom. Over this she wore the haori, being careful to keep the left side over the right as per the instructions. A small sash kept it in place while she donned the furisode, arranging it similarly, then following the instructions on how to tie the simple yet not quite so simple knot about her waist. After several unsuccessful tries she got it right, and then turned the sash around so that the knot was at her back. She looked in the mirror and looked at her reflection.

She was surprised by it. She had expected to look out of place, even funny in the outfit, but it was well chosen for her. The blue brought out the color of her eyes. She turned around to see herself from different angles, and smiled at herself.

She leaped for the door to go see her Shinji. When she opened it, she found a pair of soft sandals waiting for her. After slipping her feet into them, she padded around to the kitchen to find Shinji. He was there cooking furiously. There was homemade sausage cooking as well as steamed onions, red cabbage, and baked potatoes in the oven. She caught the faint sugar smell that hung in the air too.

Shinji was dressed in a dark blue kimono with a comparatively small tan sash wrapped around it tied in a simple knot. As she stepped into the room, Shinji turned around, a little surprised to see her. He had not expected her to be up for a while more.

Shinji smiled and looked at her for what seemed like an eternity, taking in her splendor. She was beautiful. He had judged well when he picked out her kimono. It was like it was made for her, and it fit very well. Her red hair hung down the back almost melding with the color of the fabric. Asuka turned around so that he could see all of her, the long hanging sleeves flowing loosely under her arms.

Asuka sniffed several times to break Shinji out of his inspection. "What are you cooking? That smells great."

"Well I figured that you were getting tired of Japanese food so I decided to make you something to remind you of home for your birthday." He lifted the lid of a pot to watch the red cabbage cooking.

Asuka hugged him from behind. The silk of his own kimono was very smooth, and she ran her hands over his front and sides. "You doing all this for me?"

Shinji nodded. "By the way, this should be done in a little while, then I have a present for you. We can open that sometime later."

So the Kimonos where not the only thing he had gotten for her. She had not expected him to celebrate her birthday like this. Asuka seated herself at the table to watch the meal being prepared. She and Shinji talked a little, but she watched him with more attention than she was paying towards talking to him. He moved about the kitchen stirring this and cutting that, and tasting something else, smiling about it all the whole time.

For one of the few times in his life, Shinji was happy, and he had been for several months now. Was this what contentment was? Being with someone you love, and only having to worry about your own welfare? To have everything you need and no worries about anything else. He had noticed that he liked watching the world recently. He would sit in the living room chair and watch the snow, just thinking about things. It was soothing. And there was a lot to think about.

Why were they here. Even though the fact that both of them were in Evas at the time, it was odd that there would be no one else around at all. Statistically speaking there should be people around. There are inevitably always people who will survive something right?

So perhaps they were picked to stay behind. To do what? Repopulate? Begin again? And try to do so without nearly destroying the world again? But why start with only two? Was this some neo-biblical thing again? Adam and Eve? How could something so monumental be so cut and dried? He and Asuka were not like Adam and Eve. They both had memories of pre-Third impact life. Maybe they were to remind them of where humanity went wrong.

Regardless, they were here and practicality stated that sooner or later they would run out of resources that they wanted or needed. Like gasoline for engines or other chemicals. Food would consume much of their time to grow and tend. And what about the technology that still littered the landscape? What would they do when things began breaking due to age and they could not repair it? They needed help of some kind.

The timer on the stove dinged and Shinji shut off the heat. He had been so absorbed in his thoughts that he had lost track of time. Fortunately cooking came almost as second nature to him so he could think about things like that and cook at the same time.

Asuka had taken the initiative to put some dishes on the table, she was ready for some good German food. Shinji served it out in heaping helpings, and they both dug in. Shinji paused just long enough for a quick "Happy Birthday Asuka."

Shinji was not used to spice or rich foods like this but it was good. Asuka was in heaven. It was cooked just like she had remembered it tasting, and it brought back memories of Hamburg and Berlin when she got the chance to eat out while in college. If she had not known better, she would swear that Shinji was a German cook. She complimented him on his cooking several times.

When they were finished the stuffed teens sat eyeing the empty plates, wondering how they managed to eat it all. Shinji rose, and cleared the table, then let them sit in water so that he could wash them later.

Asuka felt about ready to pop. "I don't think I am going to need anything else to eat for another 2 weeks." She half expected to see a huge round belly when she looked down, so much food had she put in there.

"Well, after you let that settle for a while, I have a cake that we can have. I made it for just the two of us, so we don't have to worry about leftovers. Asuka groaned. It would be forever before she could eat that cake. Right now she was digesting the biggest meal of her life, and she was getting drowsy despite the night of sleep she had last night. She related that to Shinji, and they decided to sit and watch it snow.

"Asuka? You ever think about what were doing here?"

"All the time. What's on your mind?"

"Do you... I mean, what do you think about... kids?" Shinji blushed a terrible red. It was very evident that such a subject was embarrassing to him.

"Well, I think bout that a lot, yeah. Do you think I would be ashamed of having children?"

"No." Shinji paused for a moment. "I just remember you commenting that you did not want children when we were pilots. And I just wanted to know what you thought about having kids with... someone like me."

Asuka knew how much it took him to say something like that so bluntly. It was a bit of a thrill that he would want to have a child with her. Thinking about that was sometimes something that she had no idea how to understand. That two people could make another person, and that person would be a part of each parent. The idea, when you just get right down to it was unfathomable. It would take experience to allow her to know what it was to be a mother. She smiled at her Shinji. "Shinji, I sure do love you. You may have a hard time of broaching difficult subjects, but you do care more than anyone I have known. I have not even thought of having children with someone other than you.." She tried to drop her smile and look serious, but it did not work well. Instead she just had this silly grin on, and Shinji nodded and smiled back.

Perhaps teens such as they really could not grasp concepts such as these. To be responsible for another's life and well being as well as their future. Shinji and Asuka both were no strangers to being responsible for other people lives but it was altogether different when that person would be your child.

As they talked the snow would quit falling only to resume a few minutes later. It was light but steadily it recovered much of the ground that had begun showing through the melted spots. The topic of conversation changed gradually from children to the future, to what they would do. Asuka proposed the idea that they could try going to Germany.

"Why did you want to go back there?"

"It has been a while since I have seen my home. I just wanted to see it. And besides they have one of the higher end MAGI there. We could use that to get all of the information that we have been wanting. Like how to work all of these things and how other stuff functions. I would be surprised if one of the branches did not have information like that in its database."

"But that is a long way, how would we get there?" Even though the idea of another traveling adventure appealed to him, it was much further than from Tokyo-3 to Okayama had been.

"I don't suppose you know how to fly?" Asuka said hopefully.

Shinji shook his head. "Only what I've seen in movies. And I crash a lot in simulators." Asuka grimaced at that.

"Yeah, same here. That leaves going by boat."

"Do you mean a sail boat or a powerboat?"

"Well originally I was thinking about a powerboat, but we would have to stop all the time to refuel, and it would take a while at each place to get the fuel. I have sailed a little before, nothing as big as an open water boat, and certainly not as far as we are talking."

Shinji considered this. He had been sailing a little bit himself. When he had been in school they had gone on a field trip to the ocean and they went sailing there. "How did you plan on getting there?"

"Well really at first I thought that we could just sail to China, then go overland the rest of the way, but that would take forever, plus we would get lost a lot cause we don't know anything about the area. But, if we sail to say, Italy, we could then go overland north through Europe, and be there in no time. Longest part would be sailing there."

"How long are we talking? I don't really know anything about sailing long distances."

Asuka thought for a moment. It would not be really fast going. Certainly not a mater of days. "Maybe 2 months or more?"

"On a ship?" Shinji sounded skeptical. Asuka nodded. "Alone?" Asuka nodded again. "Won't we get cabin fever or something? And what about food?"

"No fresh vegetables for a while. We could fish. And we could bring cooking stuff with us."

"We could find a good-sized boat that would have a fridge and freezer."

"Shinji do you really want to do it? I mean I would hate to drag you along if you did not want to go."

Shinji thought about it only for a second before responding. He wanted to see more of the world. There was so much that he had not seen and yet so much out there to see. "Lets do it." Being stuck in the house for the winter was bad enough to make him long to be out and about. He had so much fun traveling even the relatively short distance to Okayama.

Asuka brightened and started talking about the route that she had been thinking about. They could sail west from Japan through the Indian Ocean, around Saudi Arabia and its satellites and through the Suez Canal after going through the Red Sea. Then just a short trip across the Mediterranean Sea, and they could land in Italy.

"Do you think we could have some of that cake? I have some room now." Asuka was curious as to what kind of cake it was.

"OK, but don't expect to be too impressed. I did not spend too much time on it, and it only has a little icing on it."

"Stop right there. By the time you finish telling me about it, it'll have become the worst cake in history. I am sure it is great. Just gimme some."  
  
Shinji took the cake out of the fridge and cut it in half. It was very small. Big enough to make only two medium sized pieces. It was a vanilla cake with yellow lemon icing on it. There were even tiny specks of vanilla bean in the cake.

While Asuka sat down at the table, Shinji went outside and retrieved a small flat flap-lid box. He had found it at a jewelry store, and put the ring in it. When he returned inside Asuka was waiting for him, having not yet taken a bite of her cake.

He set the box on the table, not saying anything about it, but instead cutting a piece of cake and putting it in his mouth. He smiled when Asuka eyed the box, and then looked back at him. He knew that she was curious about it, but he wanted to let it be for a few more minutes.

When the cake was gone, Shinji picked up the box, and placed it on the table in front of Asuka. "I umm... " He cleared his throat. " I made this for you. I hope you like it. Happy Birthday Asuka." He watched raptly as she slowly reached for the box, and lifted its cover. When she saw the ring she stared at it for a moment smiling.

"You made that? For me? Oh Shinji, I never did anything for you for your birthday." Her smile faded, and she was suddenly sad that she had never shown Shinji the level of appreciation or devotion that she herself had enjoyed from him.

Shinji stood up and moved next to her, turning her towards him and he took the ring from the box. He looked at her eyes as he found her left hand and he lifted the middle finger to place the ring on it. "Shinji? Would you put it on my ring finger instead?"

Shinji hesitated only an instant, but in that time he thought volumes worth. What did this mean? That he was putting the ring on her ring finger? He knew that among couples it had special significance. Were they a couple? They were in love and they were together. Was she asking him to marry her? Or was she asking him to ask her to marry him? Or was this just a boy giving a ring that he made to the girl that he loves?

He looked into her eyes, as he pushed the ring slowly up her finger. It caught for an instant on her knuckle on a small fold of skin, then it was in place. "I love you, Asuka. Happy birthday." On an impulse he kissed her, and he instantly knew that it was the right thing to do.

Asuka hugged him, and buried her face in his neck. She vowed to do something special for his birthday next time. She would make it his special day just like he had made this one hers. The kimonos, the cake, the ring, it had all been carefully planned. When they let go of each other, she looked at the ring again. The flames licked at the edges, curling around in some places. It shone with it's yellow brown luster, and caught the light well. "Shinji? Why flames? Just out of curiosity."

"Oh, I forgot to tell you. Look inside it."

Asuka slowly pulled the ring off of her finger, and examined the inside. She had to move into better light, and then she saw it. "The fire in my life." She looked up at Shinji.

"Well, you know. I have just come to think of you as my motivation. I don't know what I would do if I didn't have you and... You are the reason I do anything anymore. Without you, I would be... Existing."

Asuka had for a long time only lived for the praise of others. But praise on such a base idea as this was something that she had never known. To be loved and to inspire someone to be better than they are. Asuka knew that what Shinji had told her was true. To him, she was his reason for living. While the idea was flattering, it carried with it a sense of responsibility.

Asuka slid the ring back on her finger, and hugged her Shinji again.  "I have never had a better birthday, Shinji.  My last birthday, I did not even celebrate.  I love you, baby."

For the rest of the day they puttered about the house in their kimonos. They poured over an atlas they had found discussing possible routes they could take to get to Germany, they cleaned up the mess from the cake and the meal. Shinji went outside for a moment to check on the chickens and make sure things were running right around the house.

He carried the .38 special with him nearly everywhere now. It was snub-nosed, and could fit easily into a pocket if he needed to. They had heard the dogs several times in the last few months, and Asuka had even shot at them once. Fortunately Shinji did not have to use it today. The UPS showed in the green, the chickens were fed and watered, the pipes looked good, and the LP gas tank was only down to ¾ tank.

Once their work was done, they relaxed and talked for a while, and then it was time for bed. During the winter, they had both noticed that since the days were so short, they had started going to be earlier and waking up later. So it was not so uncommon for them to be going to bed at 8:00.

Of course, going to bed is a loose term. More so, it was going to the bedroom. They had not had a fight in a few days and it was high time they had one. Shinji had found long ago that Asuka liked to wrestle and she was pretty darn good at it too. So he made sure that the "fight" turned into a wrestling match. It started just like it always did. Words exchanged, voices raised, then Shinji moved it up a notch when he started trying to get Asuka down on the ground. And from there it only got better.

Asuka managed to get both of his wrists out to the sides, then let go of one in the hopes that she could get around him in time to bring the remaining one up behind his back. But Shinji had been in this position before, and so sacrificing person comfort he quickly ducked his head under his arm, and came around with her arm coming across his chest. With her hand sliding around the circumference of his wrist, it stretched the skin a little and it burned fiercely. She was still behind him which left her in prime pull-over body-slamming posture. He always had trouble getting a hold of something other than hair, but this time he was lucky. She had taken off her kimono and put on a shirt and shorts. He reached up with his free hand and grabbed a wad of shirt, and yanked her over, but she rolled to the side at the last moment and tripped him up, causing him to fall face down on the futon. And now he was in trouble. No sooner did he try to get up, but he felt her applying weight to his back.

He had grown more muscular, but there was no way he was going to move Asuka off his back. Especially now that she was putting her knee into the small of it. It hurt, and he knew he was lost, but that was OK. This was her day, let her have it. Asuka leaned down to whisper something in his ear, but bit it instead, and the fight was on again.

A while later, exhausted, both teens lay in bed, just listening to each other breathing. Asuka wished that she could show Shinji how much she loved him, but for now it had to wait. They could not risk the repercussions of a decision like that at this point. It would not do to be tied down with a child with so much left to do to prepare for a family, assuming they would ever have one.

It was with thoughts like this that Asuka fell asleep. It had been one of the happiest days of her life, and she looked forward to many more like it next to her man.

Addendum

A word about Kimonos. I am sure that most people who have watched at least a miniscule amount of anime with kimonos in it can grasp the idea of the kimonos that I described in the above chapter. If you are one of the unfortunate ones who think that the kimono entails only the thin single layer silk robes that are sold in the west you might check out Broken link. This page has a pretty good illustration of how much there is to the Kimono. Another place to look is which has some kind of funny little things in it like a funky virtual kimono Flash presentation. Another broken link Beware, surfing around this site will lead to a part that details the after affects of the Atomic Bomb drop on Hiroshima. Even though I believe that history should not be censored, it is a bit grisly in a couple of places so if you are squeamish....

Also, this is going to be the last chapter for a little while. I am moving to Hawaii (back to Hawaii actually) on the 9th of July so it will be a while before I secure housing and get my personal goods out there. It will likely be halfway through August before I do so don't hold your breath. You can always send to my portable e-mail at balthasar10yahoo.com. I will answer as quickly as I can ( I will have access to public computers at the library). Until I get back on my feet, take care and I will do my best to keep writing good stuff. Talk to everyone later!

Chewie


	12. DAY XXX

Just a side note: DAY XXX is just that I don't know what day it is and X is as good a variable as any other. There is no lemony content here.... Without further ado...  
  
Asuka opened her eyes and squinted against the painfully bright light streaming in through the window above her. The gentle rocking motion had already put her back to sleep several times and it was high time she finally got up. The absence of a certain boy who normally slept beside her piqued her curiosity. Where was Shinji?  
  
She rolled out of the bed, and stumbled around for a moment or two trying to get her footing, and started getting dressed. The cold of the hard wood floor caused a shiver to run up her body. Once she finished dressing she went out to look for Shinji. After only a couple of minutes, though, she found him. He was sitting on the deck, with only shorts on and a fishing pole dipped into the water.  
  
Asuka yawned loudly so as to announce her approach, and sat down next to Shinji. "Whatcha up to.?  
  
Shinji smiled at her. "You know I think the first thing you say to me every morning is a redundant question or statement."  
  
"Hey, what can I say? Catch anything yet?"  
  
Shinji smiled again. "Not yet." He sighed slowly. "I like this. It's relaxing." Asuka gave him a weird look. "Not that there is anything terribly stressful going on right now."  
  
"Well, I hope we get something soon, I am starved." Shinji nodded. So was he. Abruptly Asuka stood. "I am going to go update the log."  
  
"Alright. Don't forget to resync that GPS. For some reason it keeps falling behind on the time."  
  
"K" Asuka padded back down the stairs and went below where she sat at the table and worked. Their log tracked their journey so far and kept detailed information about all aspects. Before she started writing she had the GPS tracker get the current time from the satellite that kept nearly atomic accurate time. Then she checked the series of gauges that showed barometric pressure, wind speed and direction.  
  
Day 12: 9:45 AM. Partly cloudy, wind approx. 10 miles per hour from SSE. Pressure is 30.04 in. and steady. According to GPS since last log entry, we have traveled nearly 300 nautical miles. Expect to put in tomorrow at Colombo, Sri Lanka or Nagercoil, India tomorrow.  
  
Asuka wrote a little about how she felt and how she was enjoying the trip so far. Not long after, Shinji walked down the stairs carrying a large fish of some sort or other by the gills. He cleaned it on the counter top while she continued to write. It was good to have a chance to relax again. They had spent quite a bit of time getting ready for this trip, and they had left as soon as they deemed it ready.  
  
It had taken several weeks for them to locate a ship that they liked. Most of the vessels that had been moored in Okayama were fishing vessels and cargo ships. Not many yachts or passenger ships of a size that they could handle. With the help of the library (how would they ever have survived so far without it?) they learned quite a bit about ships in general, and sailboats in particular. They had then set out to nearby coastal towns on motorcycle and scouted around for different ones that would suit them. In the end it came down to three, and they picked the one that looked the nicest.  
  
They sailed it from Ako, a town about 30 miles up the coast. Even that had been a bit of an adventure. Trying to steer a sail boat, and especially one of this size was as much an inborn ability as it was a science. They lazily made their way out of the harbor that evening zigzagging back and forth even with the wind at their back. Shinji had nearly knocked himself out on one of the sail booms too. He turned a little too sharply and the wind caught the sail and turned it. He ducked just in time for it to pass harmlessly overhead. From then on, they both kept a watchful eye on the sails position.  
  
Asuka stared out of the window next to the table and watched the water pass by. Nothing out there but miles and miles water in every direction. This was liberating in a way, but it also made her a bit anxious. They never strayed too far from shore. Even now she could not see the land itself, but there were large cumulus clouds hanging off the starboard horizon that indicated it was there. She thought back again to their days before setting sail.  
  
It had been quite the hectic time. For weeks now they had been scouring the town of Okayama for any needed items that they could pack the boat with. The ship was large enough to pack quite a bit into. It had several sleep quarters, so they had taken out the beds and furniture from the unused quarters and used them for storage. The motorcycles (carefully packed of course), dry food staples, books, clothes, tools, outdoor gear, personal effects.  
  
The motorcycles had been packed very well. Shinji have visited a parcel packing company and looked around in there. It turned out they could pack them in foam in a crate relatively easily. The day before they had set off they took the motorcycles in, drained their fluids, cleaned them, then put them each into a very large and thick plastic bag. This was then slid into the crate. Shinji had taken the top of the crate off too so that they could squirt the foam in from the top and they would not have to worry about damaging the cycles by laying them over. The foam set pretty fast, and they finished it off by topping off the last few inches of airspace and nailing the crate shut again. The motorcycles had served them well, and they were very good looking. There was no way they would be leaving them there.  
  
Later that night had been a bit of a special moment. They had both had a lot of time to think about their leaving, and Shinji had almost gotten cold feet. He was leaving behind everything and what he considered the resting place of everyone he knew. He wept openly at the still fresh memories of his loss, and Asuka had tried to console him as best she could. It would take some getting used to, being away that is. Despite the strangeness of another culture, Japan had grown on her too. They had gone to bed early that night, with Asuka whispering to Shinji in the no longer lonely night. They had each other, and that would suffice.   
  
According to the map they would be Passing through the Sri Lanka Straights tomorrow. They could either go to the capital of Sri Lanka, Colombo, or they could go to the coastal Indian town of Nagercoil. "Hey Shinji? You have a preference on which city we land in?" Asuka pointed to the map.   
  
"Well, I think we might be best off going to the larger ones. They will likely have better facilities, and larger quantities of whatever we will want." Shinji studied the map for a moment.  
  
Asuka nodded in agreement. "What all do we need, anyhow?" They had only been out for about 2 weeks, so they had not really run out of anything.  
  
"Well I would like to get more rope just in case something breaks while we are out here. I would hate to be caught without any. Also, I took a look at the motor, and I found out why it was missing a stroke. One of the spark plugs has a crack in it so it was grounded. No spark, so we need a new one. And we can get more gas. Plus there should be some places around where we can get some local spices and stuff. It would help liven up the meals some I think." Shinji ticked off his fingers while he said this.  
  
"OK. Sounds good to me. It will be good to get my feet on solid ground again. It is weird to be moving all the time." Asuka jotted down their geo coordinate position in the journal. "Looks like we are at about 11 degrees 35 minutes 49 seconds by 81 degrees 30 minutes and 05 seconds."  
  
"I still can't work those out in my head. I try to visualize it and I can't." For the last week they had been playing a sort of game. Visualize their position according to their previous position. If you can work out the geo coordinate in your head you can figure out almost exactly what direction you are traveling.  
  
"Don't worry, it is not of much practical use anyhow." Asuka smiled at Shinji. "You going fishing again today?"  
  
"Yup. Wanna come? I am not much good at it. In fact I think you are better than I am. You have certainly caught more fish." He grabbed the poles out of the stand up closet on the way to the steps that went on deck.  
  
Asuka jumped up and followed him out of the room, picking up her sunglasses on the way out. Outside the sun shone brightly on the water. They had been fortunate that whoever had owned the sailboat had left their sunglasses there. Shinji and Asuka both had soon discovered that they would have to let their eyes adjust to the glare of the sun reflecting off of the water.  
  
Sitting on the side of the boat with feet dangling off almost toughing the water, they baited their hooks and cast their lines, and waited, talking idly back and forth. Recently much of their talk had turned to possibilities. You might even call it theorizing. Assuming that there were some higher power at work, there would have to be provisions made for perpetuating the human species right? Otherwise it would die out with this current generation, or subsequent generations would devolve through inbreeding. Looking at the situation pragmatically had allowed them to talk about the subject more freely that they otherwise would have.   
  
Anyhow, also assuming that those provisions had been made, what, then, where they? A get out of inbreeding free card so to speak? And even so, it would take many hundreds of years just to have a community of people again.   
  
As part of their reading material, Shinji had brought along a Holy Bible, and had consulted it thoroughly on the matter. According to the opening books, Adam and Eve (he still had trouble thinking about those two names without associating them with the First angel and Eva) must have had genetically perfect DNA. In theory then their offspring would have either no DNA degradation or so little of it that inbreeding would not matter. Only after so many successive generations would they have to worry about complications arising from matching pairs of hazardous DNA sequences. Of course they would not know any of this, but it would become apparent soon that intra family couplings would not work.  
  
Also according to the text, people of that time lived much longer than is normal for their current time. Abraham and Sarah even bore children at the age of 100, and Methuselah lived to be about 1000 years old. SO with the unnaturally long lives they stood a much better chance of bearing more children thus populating much faster. With a larger population base coming so quickly, they could stop inbreeding is fewer generations that otherwise, thus cutting down on the difficulties resulting from it.  
  
While they were discussing this Shinji caught a couple of medium sized fish, and Asuka caught one small one. "What is your secret, Shinji?"  
  
"Ancient Japanese secret." He smiled at her, and showed his results off to her. "You just have to be lucky I guess."  
  
"Some Ancient Secret. Who's gonna clean it?"   
  
"I was hoping that you could. I just don't have the stomach for doing that, even if it is to an animal." Shinji's seriousness was evidence enough to Asuka exactly how he felt. Shinji had always been a bit squeamish, but ever since Third Impact he had shied away from anything to do with blood or anatomy with the exception of medical related things.  
  
Of course, Asuka thought, with the things that he had seen, it was no wonder. He had tried to describe the horrible image of Unit 02 torn apart, and the agony that he had felt knowing that she had suffered through all that pain.  
  
"OK, Shinji. I can clean them. But you have to cook em!" She smiled. It was so much easier to live with the boy like this. No more expectations of him than to live his life the way he wanted to with someone who loved him, and whom he loved in return. She regarded this pervious though for a moment. She should stop calling him a boy. He was a man. Anyone who was responsible for their own actions could be considered an adult.  
  
"That's fine. I like to cook. Which way would you like them tonight?"  
  
"How about beer-battered? I liked that the last time you did it. Where did you find that recipe?"  
  
"A book in the library. I am going to miss that library. I suppose I will have to learn German when we get there. Otherwise I will never be able to read anything. I will have to get you to translate." Shinji absently jammed his finger in his ear and wiggled it back and forth.  
  
Asuka thumbed the gold ring that he had made for her. It was hung by a thin silver necklace about her neck. She had only worn it a few days when she found that so pure was it that it was bending out of shape bit by bit.  
  
"Well I can teach you German. Once you have the alphabet down it is only a matter of learning the words. Reading it is much easier than reading Japanese. The Kanji is strictly memorization, but with the grouping of letters you have a pattern to go by. Stringing together letters that nearly always have specific sounds is a lot more simple than memorizing thousands of characters that look so much alike." They took the fish below and Shinji talked while Asuka cleaned the fish. He did not watch, just talked.  
  
Much later, after dinner, they sat again on the deck of their boat, watching the sun go down. The purples and blues melted into a bright orange and red sky, which ended with a slowly sinking ball of fire, that when its last shining rays dipped below the water allowed the night to sink in more quickly. They had the generator on board and it would power all of the 12 volt electronics on board, but for now they were both content to sit in the growing darkness and enjoy each others company. For a couple of months now, this time had become their "get close" time.   
  
No sex. Just love. And some necking. Among other things.   
  
This night the stars came out like any other. The sky was almost totally clear, and the water reflected their light well. After the night had fully come, they sat whispering about the future, and it was not long before Asuka found that Shinji had been thinking about things along the same lines as she had.  
  
"Asuka."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
A long pause followed. From the way he had said her name, she knew he was working for the right words.  
  
"I love you, Asuka." Well at least he had grown comfortable saying that.   
  
"Shinji, is there something bothering you? Spit it out."  
  
"I was just thinking about what we were talking about earlier."  
  
Asuka decided to be playful. "About the beer-batter?"  
  
"No." So much for that. "It was about... having children. I just... want you to know that I am not afraid of any outcome."  
  
So there it was. Even though he did not get fully to the meaning of it, she knew what he meant. He loved her very much and he wanted to have a child someday. Somewhat mature thoughts for someone his age, but then considering the circumstances they were in, it was to be expected for some one to be forcibly matured. And it was not too surprising that he had come to this either. They had essentially been avoiding direct references to sex for a long time.  
  
"I understand, Shinji. But of course, now I want to know what your gonna do about it. Hmm?" Shinji turned a very bright red, and avoided the prod. "It's OK Shinji. You don't have to say or do anything until you are ready, OK? I was just joking around. You are too serious sometimes." Asuka nuzzled her head under his arm, and sat there leaning against him. "But one of these days you better make good on all this talk. Or I will just have to take matters into my own hands."  
  
Shinji sighed. He was trying to be serious, but Asuka was having some fun. That was OK, though. She had a right to. Shinji sat up straighter. "Asuka? Do you think that I am much different that I used to be. You know, before..."  
  
It was hard for Asuka to put into words exactly how much he was different. "You are almost like... a different person who occasionally tries to be like a person you once heard about. Shinji, you are not the person that you once were. Just like I am not the person that I once was. Why do you ask?"  
  
"I just wondered for a moment if we would ever have fallen in love the way we were. If we had been the same people we were then, what would have happened?"  
  
"Shinji I have the feeling that all kinds of things changed on that day." Asuka barely finished this before you yawned a gaping stretching yawn. "Wanna talk about it in bed? I am about ready to go."  
  
Shinji smiled. "You know, if you would have said something like that back then, I would have expected some fighting not long afterwards."  
  
"Which reminds me, you owe me a rematch. I will not be defeated so easily. Maybe not tonight, but you better get to it soon. No more Ms. Nice Asuka either." Her wicked grin shone in the soft light.  
  
"Yeah yeah. I heard it all before." They went below, and Shinji hit the switch for the power generator. In a few seconds the running interior lights came on. They had found early on that you had to run the generator for a couple of hours each day to recharge the batteries. Running lights, the clocks the fridge, and other electronics worked off of five wet cell batteries, that were in turn hooked to the generator. They would sustain the boat for perhaps a little more than a day, but if they were not charged you would have to worry about resetting a lot of stuff. Not to mention the GPS worked on that circuit and they would want to know their position at all times.  
  
"Are we still on course?" Shinji called to Asuka.  
  
"Yeah. We may want to take shifts tonight. According to our speed we should come across Sri Lanka in a few hours."  
  
"OK I will take the first shift. Say five hours?"  
  
"Sounds good to me. You going to want anything to eat while you are up there?"  
  
"Naah. I think I will be alright. You get some good rest OK?" Shinji watched Asuka as she brushed her teeth. She mumbled something back to him through the toothpaste.  
  
Up on deck he hit the switch for the high candle-power lamp on the mizzen mast. It shone out into the darkness. Next to the wheel there was a small back-lit LCD screen. The boat was outfitted with a forward looking range finder, which currently reported that they were still at a good 300 meters of water.  
  
Asuka poked her head our from the below decks hatch. "Goodnight, Shinji. Don't run us aground!" She giggled a little to herself and went below-decks again.  
  
Shinji stood for a while watching water that he could not quite see slip almost noiselessly past the boat. Life was good. And it had changed so much. Gone were the days that he had been Shinji the student, living life with no purpose. Also gone was Shinji the Pilot, living only because his father told him to. Now he was Shinji the sailor! Well not really. But he was living a life greater than he had imagined that he could have. The cost was high, but he was having the time of his life, and Asuka was there to share it with him.  
  
He wondered about a lot of things when he was alone. What would they find in Germany? What was going to happen in their future? Why in the world is it called a mizzen mast? And what is that stupid ringing in his ear?  
  
Authors Note:  
  
Well I have got to say that everyone was very patient (with exception to those people who threatened my family and made fun of my lineage to get me to write...) Not really. I am sorry that it took me so long. I started this chapter several times and deleted it because I did not like the way it was turning out. I originally wanted to write about their last day in Japan as a chapter on it's own, but I decided that I would do it in flashbacks. I also think that this will be the last chapter like this. Trying to put only one day into a chapter but still make it long enough to constitute a chapter is getting hard. So I am going to try and move to more of a free flowing narrative format if I can.  
  
It was hard getting back into the saddle. The right words did not come most of the time, so I kind of regard the above chapter more as a filler than anything else. It just establishes that they have left, and are in good health and spirits. Perhaps something interesting will happen in Colombo! About the mizzen mast thing. I still don't know why it is called that. I have not looked much but there it is. Any sailing buffs who want to help me out are free to.  
  
By the way, I need some feedback on this one. I know that there are fans out there of lemons. There are also fans out there of Shinji/Asuka lemons. I generally shy away from them since we are talking about a story of two mid-teens having sex, and that is a quite a taboo in the US. So here it is. Where I to write one (this is a big "if") would anyone want it? I would of course reconcile their age ( I am still wondering how I would do this). But I leave this up to my readers. Yea or nay will do. Dost thou want a lemon?  
  
Keep in mind that this would be a first for me. I have never dabbled in Lemon writing, and I would like to keep it romantic. Maybe I should read several Anne Rice novels before attempting it. Anyways, let me know how I am doing and what you think of a lemon!  
  
And somebody for Gods sakes give Shinji some stinkin' alcohol for his ear. He must have some kind of infection or something. 


	13. Landfall

A note: It was recently brought to my attention that there is a rather large discrepancy in the timeline here. When I started this series, I was under the assumption that there was not an exact date of Third Impact. I looked all over the place, but I could not find it. So I made one up. Unfortunately there is one, and I have been told that the actual Third Impact occurred on or about 01JAN2016. This presents a problem since it is approx June or something (I am too tired to bother figuring it out) when they awaken on the shore. So... let us assume for a moment that they have been in a suspended animation like state since that time. Five to six months, which could be worked, but that would then present more problems. For one, there would be no more usable perishable food in the stores then. Also, fuel separation would have started setting in so they would have to either remix it (I don't even know if you can do this) or find some other way to work with it. I have supposed that they have learned through judicious use of the library how to remix the fuel, but then if it was already separated they would have to find the library first. Anyhow, just making you aware. Since I am god over the story, lets just say that everything worked out in the end, and some day I will go through and figure something out. *S* Until then I hope that you continue enjoying my story as much (if not more!) than I have enjoyed writing it. Landfall It was about 3:00 in the morning when Asuka came below deck and woke the sleeping Shinji up. They were within 3 or 4 miles of shore and she wanted to anchor so that they could sail into the docks in daylight. When she shook him a little, Shinji snorted and smiled. This only prompted the girl to play with him a little to get him to wake up. She tickled his ears and nose, blew in his ear, kissed him on the cheek, and tormented his unconscious form. It was not until she thumped his nose that he came around. "Huh?" He blinked his eyes. "Time to get up?" "No, I just needed some help. I need you to give me a hand taking the sails down. We are not far offshore and I want to wait till daylight to dock." "Ugh.. What time is it?" Shinji looked out the window and saw that it was indeed still dark outside. "About 3 AM." Asuka sounded cheery. Of course she had had a bit of sleep. "Mmm." Shinji wrinkled his brow, and thinking with all of his might, he tried to decide on his next course of action. Then he had it; get dressed. It was so hard to think when just waking up. After doing so, he was led by Asuka on deck and they went about lowering the sails, and packing them away. This would allow them to remain anchored in their current position, and let the sun come up so they could dock. The ringing had returned in Shinji's ears at some point during the night, and he had a sense of vertigo added to it now. It felt a bit like standing on the head of a pin. Every direction was down. As he zipped up the waterproof bag over the sails, Asuka lowered the anchor and let the line play out. He was heading back down when he clipped his trailing foot on a stair and down he went, rolling over two more, and laying sprawled on the floor below. Hearing the noise, Asuka ran to investigate, only to see Shinji trying to push himself up off of the floor. "Shinji!" She jumped down the steps being careful not to land on him, and picked him up. "My God! Are you alright? What happened?" "Ugh. I don't know, I just lost my balance. I got dizzy and it felt like I was standing up straight, but I must have been leaning forward." He lifted his hand to his right ear and wiggled it back and forth, and then a searing pain, like a hot pin being stuck in his ear cut through his head. Wincing he bent over, cupping his hand over the ear and cried out. Surprised, Asuka called his name, and guided him to the seat at the table. "Is it your ear, Shinji?" "Mmm. Yeah." His brows furrowed as he tried to block out the pain. "Get the medical kit! It has an ear scope in it." Hurriedly Asuka retrieved the medical kit, and fumbled with the scope. She put one of the specula on it, flicked on the light, and after prying Shinji's hand from his ear, she looked inside. At first all she noticed was that Shinji did not clean his ears very well. She had never looked in ears so she did not know what she was looking at. Then she saw a very red and swollen something at the back of the ear canal. It was probably the eardrum, and it did not look good. "Shinji, you have got an ear infection. I don't know how bad it is, but it looks pretty painful. We can get some medicine in Colombo. I am sure there would be some there." "OK. Is there some painkiller in there?" "It's all no-name stuff. Acetylsalicylic acid?" "Aspirin. Can you give me a couple?" Asuka ripped open the single serving packet and gave the contents to him, then poured him a cup of water. "Do you want to wait until sunrise to get underway again? We can go now if you want? There is still a few more miles to go." "No, lets wait until it is light. We don't want to run aground. It will be alright. We can go back to sleep and wait it out. Besides I am tired anyhow." "Well, I was going to have you get to bed anyhow. I can maneuver us in there just fine by myself." She smiled at her sick Shinji, and nuzzled his face. "Come on, lets get you into bed, and asleep." Asuka put the medical kit away and ushered Shinji into the sleeping compartment. It was still cool out so they had a couple of blankets on the bed. But that was fine, Asuka liked being snuggled up to Shinji. She wondered sometimes how she ever lived without him. Just before she slipped off to sleep, she though that it was a damned good thing that Shinji insisted that they bring that medical kit, because the otoscope had come in very handy. 

* * *

Asuka and Shinji drove the pickup truck through the slush on their way in to town. With only another day to spare before their departure from Japan they were going back for anything else they might want or need on their trip. They would stop by the little convenience store and stock up on batteries and whatnot, then head over to the library and fill up on reading material. You never know when you will be bored and in need of a good book. Then they would head to the hospital on the north side of town for some additional medical stuff. The kit that they had at the house was good, but it did not have surgical equipment in it. Metzenbaum scissors and clamps and scalpels were not the kind of things that were generally included in first aid kits, but then, first aid kits assumed that you would have the ability to get good medical assistance within a certain timeframe. As he drove, Shinji added another destination to his list. An Army/Navy store. Some place that would have more ammunition. They had almost totally depleted both the 9mm rounds and the 5.56mm M4 rounds doing target practice. Shinji was a good shot but he found very fast that Asuka was a superb marksman. She hit the 25 meter target at 50 meters 48 out of 50 times with the M4, and the 25 meter target simulated a 300 meter silhouette. If she could kill with such accuracy at 600 meters, she was truly a force to be reckoned with. It took something like two hours to shop around the first three locations on the list, but finding an ammunition store was a little difficult. Guns were just not that easy to come by here. But there are always people who live, not necessarily outside the law, but they do skirt it a bit. Once they exhausted all of the Army surplus stores, they took to the pawn shops. It was with the in the third that they hit pay dirt. Bigtime. All of the stuff up front was pretty standard. Old video games, wedding rings, clothes, some small handguns, and other bric-a-brac. In the back however they found a veritable arsenal. The guy must have been either a fanatic or some kind of militia type or something like that. He had left behind loads of ammunition of all sorts. Most or which they did not have weapons for, and some of which they could not even think of a use for in their current situation. There were grenades, grenade launcher rounds, .50 caliber rounds, several bricks of Semtex, and other extraneous stuff that looked equally dangerous. But there was also several ammo cans of more conventional ammunition. 5.56 mm, 7.62 mm (which they did not need), and 9mm. They decided to take several magazines as well since they only had two apiece for each gun. When they opened up the cans of ammo, they found that the rounds had been taken out of its packaging. The 5.56mm rounds where on stripper clips that could be used for speed loading the magazines, but the 9mm rounds where loose. Fortunately there was a speed loader for those as well. Lugging the heavy cans back out to the truck took only a minute or two, and after picking through the other stuff in the back of the store they were on their way. It was kind of scary to think that there were people who collected things like that for who knows what purpose amongst a center of population such as Okayama. "You want to expend some of this tonight?" Shinji broke the silence with the question. "I guess so. I think I like shooting guns more myself that using my EVA to do it." "Me too, but I think I just never liked doing anything in my EVA. It was comfortable in a way, but killing was not something that I wanted to do." Shinji heaved a sigh, and wound the truck through the twists and turns that lead to the house. "I know, Shinji. But don't feel bad about it OK? It was something that had to be done." Asuka laid her hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort him. "Why? Why did it have to be done? It did not really accomplish much. It only prolonged the inevitable." He sighed again and shook his head. "No, Shinji. I think that it would have been much different if we would have failed to kill any of the angels. Much different. I don't think that anything would have survived. Not even the fabled cockroaches that would survive nuclear holocaust." "Well, while I don't like the means to this end, and I certainly don't like the entire situation, I do like one thing about it. I met someone I thought I knew, and I found out she was a lot different that I thought. Which reminds me. While we were poking around those pawn shops I found a necklace that you can put that ring on so it wont get so worn out." He fished in his pocket for a few seconds then produced a small felt box that when opened displayed a fine gold necklace. Asuka took it, and cupped the string of metal in her hands. "You know Shinji, you really are something. How do you think about me all the time?" He smiled at that, and watched as she took the ring of her finger and ran the necklace through it then fastened it around her neck. She planted a kiss on his cheek which distracted him enough so that he nearly hit a tree. "Hey! Don't distract the driver!" Smiling, he slowed and made the last turn on the driveway at their house. Later in the day, having packed the newest additions in the boat they set up one of their last targets on a line suspended between two trees. With three 30 round magazines apiece for the M4s they fired at the target, taking turns. Asuka hitting more often that she missed, and Shinji doing slightly better than half and half. Firing from the standing position was much harder than they made it seem in the movies. The muscles tire quickly enough that they start moving involuntarily and throwing your aim off. They don't feel tired, but they are tired enough to tremble a little. It only took a little while to finish out their ammunition, and Asuka was getting ready to go back inside when Shinji stopped her. "I thought we might clean them outside tonight. Maybe a campfire?" He let the suggestion hang in the air for a moment. Asuka smiled a little and nodded. "You want something to eat? I think we have some meat left in the freezer." "Yeah, but we can get it in a while. I am not too hungry right now. I am going to get some wood." Asuka followed Shinji back up to the house and together they loaded some of the split wood into the wheelbarrow that they took down close to the edge of the water. They stacked the wood in a semi-pyramidal mound by putting sets of two logs 90 degrees to the previous set, one on top of the other. It was wide at the base and narrow at the top. "There we go. That will let it burn a long time and make a good bed of coals to keep building on if we want. Can you go get me the lighter fluid and a lighter from the shed? I cam going to get some small stuff to help it catch fire." Once Asuka returned, Shinji stuffed a loose wad of leaves and grass into the middle of the pile, then squirted the lighter fluid on the outside and let it soak in for a minute or so. When he lit the leaves and grass it took a moment to catch well, but soon it flamed up and began to draw air in from the bottom of the pile. Once the flames licked over the sides of the logs the lighter fluid took over, and the fire began to really start roaring, pulling air in and fueling itself. The sun was starting to dip into the lake and soon it was gone leaving behind only the vestiges of daylight. Asuka brought some small chairs from the house and they sat down and enjoyed the evening. Shinji broke down his M4 and began cleaning the chamber first. Wiping away brass flakes and heavy carbon, he carefully moved the rag into each creavice. Asuka disassembled hers as well, and began working on the lower receiver and trigger assembly. "Hey, Asuka?" "Yeah?" "You ever wondered exactly what happened to everyone?" "What do you mean?" "Well I mean, it is pretty evident that they turned into LCL. But why? When you die you don't turn into LCL." "I have thought about that a bit. One of the last things I heard before I passed out was one of those guys in the command center talking about AT field. Maybe there was like an anti-AT field or whatever that negated a humans weak AT field. Without the AT field keeping their body together they turned into their component parts. I mean that is what LCL is right?" "Yeah I guess. Although I am not sure. I saw Adam, err Lillith or whatever it was under Central Dogma when I was fighting with 


	14. Storms

Roads ran in every direction. From the intersection in which he now sat, cityscape extended as far as he could see. This city did not go as quietly as the ones they drove through in Japan. Probably what happened was when someone was released their car crashed and exploded or they dropped something that caught fire. Unchecked, the fire spread throughout the city, burning everything as it went. Buildings that were gutted of their floors collapsed now that there was not support between walls. It almost looked like some of the pictures that Asuka had seen of London in World War II. Rubble lay in the streets, and broken down buildings were now large piles of conglomerate concrete and steel.  
  
Shinji rested on a large piece of what was at once time decorative molding of a building that had fallen into the street. He clutched a 9mm pistol close. Asuka had left him here for the time being to scout for a hospital that had survived the blaze. On the next bl0ock over were buildings that had not been even marked by the flames of the fire that had consumed the city. It was reasonably likely that there might be a hospital of clinic in the area and that it still had medical supplies that they could use.  
  
Shinji returned to the thoughts he had been sharing with Asuka earlier on. They were very lucky that the human civilizations technology had survived. If you followed the thinking as though they could repopulate the human species, it would take many generations to gain any kind of headway towards being something like what they had been. Of course if Shinji had his way they would not return being the self-righteous greedy and ultimately suicidal species that they had become. This whole scenario had been thrust upon the two of them not through Shinji's choice alone. That was a combination of self preservation and love, and a final decision not to run away. But, had it not been for the meddling of men, that decision would never had to have been made.  
  
He realized that he was following another tangent again. They were lucky that technology had survived because the technology could sustain them for a long time provided they thought ahead and made the most use of everything they could find. It would do neither them nor any successive generations any good if they toiled their entire lives only trying grow food and provide shelter. There was more to life than that. Right? Shinji sometimes wondered. Sometimes he had it all figured out. Sometimes he was totally lost and he was just following the flow and dealing with the adversities that life dealt him one at a...  
  
Movement out of the corner of his eye brought him from his thoughts and instantly put him on edge. He had only glimpsed it for a second but he was sure something had moved off to his left. He rolled off of the slab of concrete to the ground wincing at the spike of pain in his ear from the changing of balance. He could feel the blood pumping in his face. As silently as he could, but not as silently as he would have liked he peered over the concrete and watched as a male lion plodded its way out from behind a building catty-cornered across the intersection. It stopped in front of a department store and stood looking into the display window at the human like mannequin. It sniffed at the wall closest to it and then turned around and sprayed it.  
  
Shinji studied the animal raptly. It was well fed. He had expected any animals that they might find in the cities to be skinny and haggard but the lion had undoubtedly done well for itself. It might even have a pride living in the city. Although what they would catch was beyond him. Regardless, his heart stopped when the lion looked directly at him. It must have seen him. It had to have. It's large nostrils flared several times as it tasted the air wondering about the peculiar odor that it had not sensed in so long a time.  
  
Then it looked away and down the street it had come from. Opening its great mouth, it roared with a deafening intensity that echoed off of the buildings and rubble canyons nearby amplifying it and distorting it into an alien sound. The roar lasted what seemed like minutes but was actually only a few seconds. Then when it was done claiming its territory, it stretched each hind leg and yawned a short yawn, then loped on it's way. After it had passed from his sight, Shinji felt tired and a little dizzy. If it had seen or noticed him in any way it could have gotten a lioness or two to hunt and kill him, or even taken care of it himself. They would have to be extra careful while they were here and get out quickly or become lion food.  
  
A few minutes late after the dizzy spell had subsided, he crept back up to sit on the slab again, watching and hoping for Asuka to return soon. He did not like the idea of having to defend himself from things. She could do it easily, but he had always had a hard time killing anything even if it was trying to kill him. If he was attacked he would likely be forced to kill, and it did not sit well with him that he would be ending the life of another creature that was just doing what it was designed to do.  
  
He sat in silence for another ten minutes when suddenly a spot of red bounced from behind a building three blocks down the road to his front. Several times Asuka stopped and sat still on her approach, but in a few minutes, she was hurrying across the intersection to him.  
  
"I found some Erythromycin and some Tetracycline. I don't know if either of them will work on that infection, but I think it is worth a shot." Asuka shook a couple of bottles. "By the way, did you see a bear?"  
  
Shinji shook his head wonderingly. "No, but there was a lion that wandered through here and marked that building over there...."  
  
"There must have been a zoo around here before Third Impact. It is a wonder that the animals got out before starving to death. Anyhow, there was a bear nosing around the hospital. It got pretty close without seeing me. I was glad that I did not have to shoot it." She patted the M4 carbine. "We ought to get back to the boat. I don't really feel like staying here much longer."  
  
Just then, the wind shifted so that it was coming down a different street, and a revolting smell hit them almost like being punched. It was beyond either of them to describe, and even though neither had had anything to eat all day, they both felt like throwing up.  
  
"What is that? Ughhh." Shinji looked in the direction the smell and wind was coming from and saw only burned buildings. Turning a little further he saw that he was next to a rather tall building that could look over many of the shorter buildings around it. "Lets go up a few floors and see."  
  
"I don't think I want to, Shinji. Lets go on back to the boat." Asuka looked plaintively at him.  
  
"It will only take a couple of minutes... I just want to know what it is. And I don't want to go down there to find out." He gestured in the direction of the stench.  
  
"Well..." Asuka turned to follow him into the building. It was a good thing she came along too. Shinji was only on the 5th stair before he fell forward and would have fallen on his face if she had not caught him.  
  
"Still want to go up there?" Asuka propped him up against the wall.  
  
"Yeah. Soon as we take a look-see, then we can head back."  
  
They managed to climb several stories more then ducked out of the stairwell and into a business office. It was pretty nice. Carpeting on the floors and soft clothlike covering on the walls. A labyrinth of cubicles made a mish mash of the floor, with printer stations at evenly spaced intervals. Light poured through windows down the hallway.  
  
As they neared them, the two looked out over the sprawling city. In the distance was a very large red and white object. It had crushed what looked like a quarter of the city, but because of the relative size of it, it was just barely touching the city. A huge glassy looking plate covered the top of it.  
  
"It's... It's a finger. Oh my god." Shinji turned and dry heaved, holding onto a cubicle divider for support. Asuka just stared out the window and the gargantuan finger, with its translucent fingernail glinting in the sunlight. Shinji had described to her the sight of Rei/Lillith and her fall. Her finger was rotting even now, nearly a year later, and it still had far to go. How long would it take for the rest of the body to decay? Was most of it underwater?  
  
"I think that I have seen enough, Shinji. Lets get out of this place. That... It gives me the creeps, and I think we need to get back underway." Shinji had finished trying to wretch and managed to nod his head.  
  
They left the building the way they came in, and walked to the boat in silence. On the way they saw several other wild animals. A wolf sat sunning itself on top of a piece of corporate art; a water buffalo was pulling grass from the grounds of a park they passed.  
  
The boat was just as they had left it, and as they limbed on board Asuka spoke up. "Shinji, I want you to take one of these and get some sleep. The faster you get over that ear infection, they better off we will be. I can pull us out of here and get back underway. I want to put some distance between us and that... body."  
  
Still looking quite sick, Shinji agreed and allowed her to help him down below. Once he was safely in bed, and given a dose of antibiotic, Asuka headed above decks and set about casting off.  
  
It was not until she was well out to sea that she realized that she was very hungry and still had not eaten anything all day. While she sat at the helm, she wrote their location and disposition in the log. According to calculations, if they were to put in at Adan, Yemen, it would be about 20 days of sailing assuming they could keep up about 10 knots for half a day each day. Since they would not be sailing at night this would be a fair estimate. And with the tradewinds what they were this year, they could expect to do better than that. Perhaps even faster. They had enough stores to last that amount of time. Water was not a problem since they could purify water as they needed it. The real thing they would be short on is patience. It is bad enough to be cooped up in a car on a trip for 2 or 3 days, but a ship for nearly 20?  
  
It was doable. And it would shorten their trip. If they kept a heading of 282 degrees from Colombo, that would take them directly to an island off the coast of Yemen. Then it was a short leg from there to Adan. If they were really pressed, they could put in at Qadib or one of the other small towns on the island, otherwise they would make for the larger city.  
  
Shinji appeared from below decks and shuffled his way toward her, while rubbing his head. His hair was sticking up in a couple of places and the sleepy look in his eyes was unmistakable.  
  
"You getting hungry, Asuka? I could eat a house. Or a horse. Or both." To accentuate his point, his stomach growled loudly.  
  
"Yeah I am. Do we still have any of that instant ramen left? I know there is some frozen fish, I could fry it with some vegetables and put it in the soup. Maybe even use some of the eggs. Egg drop, fish and vegetable ramen sound good to you?" She smiled. She knew that it sounded very good to him. He had made that for her when she was recovering a while back, and had let on that it was his favorite.  
  
"Mmm. Yeah. I think that would hit the spot. Want me to fix some?" He did his best to swallow a yawn but Asuka noticed anyhow.  
  
"No way, Jose. You get back to bed, I'll fix it."  
  
"Who is Jose?"  
  
"Get to bed you! And you better be asleep by the time I am done cooking!" The mock anger helped to bring a smile to Shinji's face, and he hurried as best he could to the stairs again.  
  
"Always do as the doctor orders."  
  
Asuka finished out the log explaining their intended course of travel. Figuring their current food stores, they would easily last out the rest of the trip up to or maybe even after the Suez canal. Just to be sure she decided that it would be best to ration things a little bit. One never knows what problems they might encounter.  
  
Closing the book, she headed below as well and set about making their meal.  
  
They say that experience is the best teacher. Neither Asuka not Shinji knew how true this was until they found themselves unprepared for true open ocean sailing. They had been making good time for the last week when what could only be a severe cyclonic storm found them. The day had dawned clear and bright, but close to noon, the sky began to get cluttered with clouds and in the distance there was a huge wall of clouds that curved away from them in both directions. At the time they had been heading straight for it, but as the day wore on, both realized that they would pass through the trailing edge of the immense storm. Asuka suggested veering north a little to try and miss it by a wider margin, but no sooner did they think they would be in the clear when it shifted its track and headed back their way. It was not until 5:00 PM that they really started feeling the winds off of it, and because of it's position relative to them the winds were helping.  
  
Unfortunately the storm was getting closer despite their best efforts, and soon the wind was too much for the sails. A slow ripping sound pealed through the air, and Shinji, who had recovered from his infection enough to perform on deck again (according to Captain and Doctor Asuka's professional diagnosis), managed to get the sails down and started rolling and stowing them before more harm could be done.  
  
"Do you think it will be alright? I mean we are about to go to a watery grave or what?" Shinji yelled to Asuka across the deck. Only 20 feet away and with the wind he could barely hear her reply.  
  
"You got me, I think that in situations like this, they used to just batten down the hatches and take cover for the rest of the storm." Asuka looked worried, and that worried Shinji.  
  
After a few more minutes of struggling work on deck, they went below, dripping wet, and both were quite cold. Having grown accustomed to each other as they had over the past few months, stripping out of the wet clothing together was no longer the nosebleed inducing act it used to be. It was still very exciting to Shinji, but he could handle it.  
  
"Shinji? Can you get a blanket? I am going to make us some tea to warm up."  
  
Shinji hurried to do as she asked, and no sooner did she start pouring water into a pot than the ship rolled hard to starboard, then back to port, tossing them both about the cabin.  
  
"OK, no tea then.", she said disgustedly. Throwing the pot into the sink, she headed to the bed, where Shinji was busily spreading the blankets over the bed. They dried off with towels and climbed in, both of them taking comfort in the warmth and dryness of the bed. With the ship swaying, it was difficult to keep awake, so they started talking. Mostly they spoke of their route, what they might find when they get to NERV in Germany and other more trivial things. With the wind howling outside, the two spoke in whispers, for no other reason than that it felt more private.  
  
"Shinji?" Asuka looked at him with her soft, almost sad eyes. Having grown accustomed to hard work and being outside, Shinji had filled out his previously skinny frail looking body. He had also grown taller. When she had met him, he was her height and probably weighed 55 kilograms, but now he was probably 8 centimeters taller and had gained 10 or more kilograms in muscle. He was also quite naked.  
  
"Mm hmm? What is it?"  
  
"Do you love me? I mean.. I don't know what I mean..." She almost looked ashamed to him, tears welling in her eyes, waiting for the gentle nudge that would push them over the eyelashes and down onto her smooth silken cheeks.  
  
"Hey. What is this? I love you. I love you very much. I have tried to show it, but I guess I am just not good at it. But I do love you, Asuka."  
  
She sniffed and was silent for a moment while she wiped the moisture in her eyes across the back of her hand. "I know. I just expected... wanted you to... Do you remember when we agreed not to have se... make love, Shinji? At the time I thought that it was all for valid reasons, but after the winter was over and the dangers were past, I wanted you to want me."  
  
Shinji changed position, laying on his side so that he could look squarely at her. Her lips were pursed while she thought and chose her words carefully. Her brow furrowed with the anxiety, tension and over-thinking that people do in such situations, mulling events over in their head like a mantra, until it becomes distorted.  
  
Leaning forward he saw that she had also removed a particularly intriguing article of clothing. Her bare breasts were just visible under the hem of the covers. Then she lifted her head, and looked directly at him. It was the same Asuka, but it was a new look. She wanted him very badly, and he wanted her too.  
  
The ship rocked violently to one side, and Shinji collided with Asuka, half on accident, half on purpose, and kissed her furiously. It had been extremely difficult for the two of them to contain themselves as they had for so long. You do not live with someone you love so much without sexual relations like that easily. He brushed his hands up and down her shoulders, causing her skin to break out in goose bumps, and leaned in for another kiss, this time wrapping his arms all the way around her.  
  
With the storm raging outside, the storm that was sexual frustration was raging inside the boat. They did not separate for a very long time, but neither were they active that whole time. Some things, like the first experience of the most sublime example of romantic love, should be taken slowly and savored... several times.  
  
Afterwards they both slept, Asuka still draped halfway over Shinji, and it was not until the storm had subsided outside that the two of them awoke.  
  
Afterword-  
  
I apologize for being so long in writing this. For the last couple of months I have been extremely busy. For the entire month of January I was at an Army school (PLDC- Primary Leadership Development Course) then for February, March, and so far through April, I was preparing to deploy to Afghanistan. Soon I will be gone, but I am certain I will have internet access over there, and so I might just be capable of continuing to write. With my increased responsibilities as an NCO (Non-Commissioned Officer) I have less free time than I used to. But, once I have trained my privates (soldiers not parts *S*) I think I will have a bit less of a workload. Thanks to all of those of you who put reviews on my stories, you are the ones that keep me coming back (albeit after long hiatus). And please, if you ask questions in your reviews, please leave an e-mail address that I can respond to. I can't answer very well otherwise.  
  
I seem to remember someone asking how I knew so much about things like power plants, guns, large scale UPS systems etc. I am in the US Army. I entered service on 17APR98 as an Infantryman. It was a good job, and I got exposed to a lot of neat stuff. There are things that you can learn in the Infantry that you cannot learn so easily in many other places.  
  
I spent three years in the Infantry, and that nearly broke me. My body was not built for it. I could probably last another year or so before I would be physically unable to hack it. So I reclassified to Imagery Analysis in Intelligence. I look at satellite pictures. When learning about say power plants for example, they show you in a classroom what all of these different types of power plants look like on imagery and how they work, then you go tour one to see what all happens there. All of that information is good to know since it may come in useful hen looking at something like that on imagery.  
  
Anyhow, I will do my best to continue this while I am in country. I also plan to continue my education and maybe get in better shape. I am already in pretty good shape due to the PT I have to do, but it is not enough, and I don't have much time to do more in my free hours. I will catch you all on the other side. Those of you that pray, pray for me and the other guys overseas. With what current events are, we need luck and prayer power as much as we need beans and bullets. 


	15. The Road to Berlin

**Life After Eva**

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OK I am back at it. This chapter goes a long way; I am trying to push the story along a little. Tell me what you think!

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**The Road to Berlin**

Having survived Third Impact, wild animals, a fairly harsh winter, everyday life, and the rigors of love, Shinji and Asuka were glad to put the storm behind them. Of course, they had only caught the beginning of it. After several days of calm waters and steady breeze, they made landfall in Adan, and picked up what supplies they could.

Drinking water was running low since a heating element had burned out on the electric water reclamation system that had been installed on the boat. It was a remarkable device, but just that one simple part had left it dead weight. Unfortunately there were no replacements to be found in the town. They stayed in Adan for 2 days while they shopped around. It would be nearly another week up the Red Sea, then through the Suez Canal, then a few days to Italy. But first, some relaxation away from the water.

Luckily there was plenty of local type food around. Undoubtedly the locals had packed everything with a lot of preservatives. Shelf stable flatbread and ready made dishes to serve with it abounded. And amazingly it tasted good. The preservatives used in this part of the world undoubtedly were better than those used in a lot of Japanese foods.

When they did get back underway, they made good time. The Red Sea was calm and did not offer much in the way of excitement. It was during these days of boredom that Shinji and Asuka filled their time with each other. While they knew each other quite well, they found that being intimate brought you closer to another person that you can ever be otherwise. It amazed them that people could be so frivolous with their affections. That lovemaking could be a momentary encounter for people rather than a lasting bond.

With the water so calm, they found it much easier than it had been during the storm. Of course it was much warmer so quite often they had to stop due to the heat.

One morning Shinji woke up and found Asuka on the foredeck, looking at the approaching locks of the canal through binoculars. There was a lot hinging on the canal still being in working or salvageable order. If it was not, they would either have to scrap the trip for this year and hole up somewhere, or attempt to make it around Africa, thus adding a lot more time to the journey. It was roughly 11 thousand nautical miles, which traveling at the leisurely pace they had been going would cost them a little under 2 months. Needless to say it was pretty important that they make it through the canal.

As they approached, Shinji wiped the sleep out of his eyes. Asuka heard him yawn, and turned around and hugged him.

"How are you feeling this morning?" she asked him. His face was still a little puffy and he had creases on his face where he laid on the sheets.

"Ugh… Sometimes I hate waking up. Sleeping feels so good." Shinji replied issuing another yawn. "That is not to say that other things don't feel good too." One had to be careful around Asuka sometimes.

"Well it is good that you woke up when you did. We are almost there. This looks like it will be a bit of an adventure. The outer lock is up, and I don't know anything about opening closing and flooding locks."

"It will be OK. When we get close, we can lower the sails and use the motor to edge us up to the pier out there. Did you see a control house or anything?" Shinji asked squinting against the bright sun to see what the lay of the canal was.

"There are a couple of buildings up a road from the pier. Other than that I don't know. One of them could be it."

It only took a few more minutes to close with the pier, and they had the sails down and move up and secured the boat to the pier. Every time they got off of the boat it felt weird for the first few minutes walking around. It almost felt like the ground was moving. They had gotten so used to the deck of the boat moving that they expected it.

The short trek up the hill to the buildings was pleasant. This part of the area was quite green compared to a lot of the land that they had passed along the Red Sea. This was watered by the Nile River delta, and stayed lush and green all the time. In the wood line to their left birds called out and small animals made various noises. The grass was high around the buildings and one of the walls had already fallen down.

It took a while looking around, but they found the control room for this lock and two others down the way. The bad news was that there was no power for the lock doors. The good news was that there was a mechanical way of opening and closing each one. Stairs leading down from the control rooms went to a series of pressure valves, that when released would open each set of doors. Once in the lock they could release another valve that would let water out of the lock, thus lowering the ship to the sea level of the Mediterranean.

"How about this, Shinji? I can go back and pull the boat into the lock, while you open it. Once I am in, you can pump the water, then get back on board, and we can sail to the far end of the canal, then you can open the doors there too."

"I thought you said you wanted to operate the controls." Shinji replied slyly.

"I did, but I think that you would be able to do it much better than I. Besides, what do I know about valves and pumps and stuff?" she asked in mock confusion. She knew exactly what Shinji knew about it.

Smiling, he replied "Fine, get on back to Sloop John B."

"Sloop John B.? What do you mean?"

"You never heard that Beach Boys song?"

Asuka looked at him semi-astounded. "No, and I am surprised that you would have. You don't listen to the Beach Boys."

"No, but I have heard that song. It's kind of funny. Took me a while to figure out what it is about, but it is funny." He kissed her and waved her away. Within 10 minutes the boat was underway and he released the valve. Pent up water pressure worked the mechanisms and hydraulic rams forcing the gates open. Water rushed into the lock, and Shinji realized that he would not have to pump anything after all. He went back up the stairs and out on to the side of the lock, and followed the boat as it traveled toward the gates.

Asuka was standing at the helm, and watched the gates open. As she got closer they stopped, and they were not even halfway open. Judging from the width of the ship, it was going to be tight, if it even happened at all.

Shinji saw it coming, and ran over to where the gate attached to the side. There was a ratchet cable that could be used to pull the gate back a little. It was not designed to open it more than a few feet.

"Slow the boat Asuka, I need to open it a little more!" But judging from its speed he knew she would not be able to stop it in time. She had already sprung the sail lines, and they were falling to the deck. But a ship that size does not exactly stop on a dime. He hurried to the cable, and started working the lever to pull the cable along, and in turn pulling the gate back his way. It was very heavy, and Shinji was sure that last year at this time he would not have been able to do it. The rubber grip on the lever had finger shaped divots on it to keep it from slipping from his fingers, but his hands started sweating immediately and he held on to it as well he could, hauling on it back and forth. From his end it did not look like it was doing much. He managed to move the door open another 10 feet by the time he boat came through however. It was still a tight fit, and he saw Asuka maneuvering to the concrete edge of the canal once she cleared the gate fully.

"That was good work Shinji. I am sorry; I should not have set all of the sails. I should have known that it was not going to be so easy."

"It's OK. The big thing is that we are that much closer. Assuming that the far gates opened enough, we should be OK." He hugged Asuka. "That was good work on your part too. You make a good sailor. I might just put you on full time." He grinned at her, and she smiled back.

"You think we're gonna make it through this alright?"

"What do you mean? You don't?" Shinji looked at her confused.

"No, it's not that, I just… I would never have imagined doing anything like this. It is so different from anything that I have done, and it's like we are playing things by ear."

"That is exactly what we are doing." Shinji hopped on board the Sloop John B. He would have to christen it properly soon. But then they would be abandoning it soon enough. Maybe he should just skip it. "And it works well enough I think"

"Yeah, but we're amazingly lucky. Have you ever thought that?" Asuka pushed off of the concrete seawall and set about raising the sails again.

"Lucky? Some of it maybe, but I think we have made our way here by some hard work and using our brains too. And some initiative. We could have just as easily stayed on that beach and died of exposure or some animal or something. To tell you the truth, for a while there, I was impartial to that idea too."

Asuka looked at Shinji seriously and thought his words over carefully. "What made you act?"

"You did. I thought about things for a long time, and decided that I could not leave you alone. I did not want you to end it, and I needed to be with someone."

Asuka experienced a flash of anger but suppressed it. Shinji had not felt the same way for her at that time, and she did not love him either, so she should not be surprised at his admission. "I love you, Shinji."

They sailed for some time watching the canal pass by. It emptied into a large lake that resumed the canal on the far side. In the exit end of the canal, they had no difficulty since it was already open, obviously left that way when the people controlling it had been taken. Navigating back into open water, they starting working on the last leg of their journey.

"Ok, turn to port heading 301 degrees. We have about 900 nautical miles, so open her all the way up. The wind is with us, so we should pass Cyprus late tomorrow, and be in Italy no later than 3 days from now." Asuka beamed. Traveling was so much fun for her, especially with Shinji. They spent a lot of time with each other, and little had she known that he could be so interesting, not to mention sweet if you could get to know him well enough. She almost wished that the journey would never end. They could continue on like this indefinitely, right? See the world, and go wherever they wanted. Of course, they had talked about children. And with that came the need to settle into one place and make life predictable.

But then, life was predictable on board the ship, right? With a baby it would be tight quarters though. And with another mouth to feed they would be stopping more often. Plus the pregnancy would complicate things. Sigh

That night they had ramen left over from Japan with some chicken and vegetables added. It had grown cooler in the afternoon after clouding up and turning overcast and the soup did well to warm them up. They talked animatedly about all sorts of things that they missed from their old life. Shinji could not think of that many things, but Asuka helped. When Shinji said that he was happier now, after Third Impact, than he was before, she sat next to him, and he held her close. A little soup was left in her bowl, and it got cold while she leaned against him.

For a long time neither moved, until Shinji turned his head, and breathed deeply of her hair. He smelled her neck to. God she smelled good. And she was warm too. He put his cold hands down at her sides, and quickly under her shirt, and she jumped with the shock of the frozen fingers on her waist.

Twisting and squirming, she managed to get away from him, but as soon as she was, she twisted around instead of escaping, she lunged at him, kissing him, and bearing him down on the bench there in the dining room. The boat slowly rocked back and forth, and the dimming light made her eyes shine just a little bit as she looked down at him.

She looked him over with a crooked smile. "You know, your hair is getting a little lighter," she said, running her fingers through his now collar length hair. "and I think I like it long like this. Much better than short the way it was. Are you going to let it keep growing?"

"I think I will. I've never had long hair before, and I think I'll try it." He looked up at this woman who had captured him and smiled. "I think I like you on top like that."

She leaned forward and kissed him briefly, then butted his head with her own. "You and me both." she said getting up. She sat on the other side of the bench at the table, studying him, and wondered about how she had fallen for him. Was it inevitable that a couple will fall in love if left long enough? Or was there something from the start? Or was it just blind luck? Or was this some kind of divine happening?

For the next couple of hours they talked and played around. You would be amazed at how much there is to talk about when that is all you have to do.

The moon had just crested the horizon, and started its inevitable voyage across the sky, when they decided to retire to the bedroom for sleep and other activities.

The next two days were fairly uneventful. They passed within sight of Cyprus, and Shinji managed to land some fish that they did not know the name of. It was nearly 30 pounds and after cleaning yielded them enough meat for several meals.

It was a fine time for both of them. When there was nothing else to do, they could lie out on the deck and catch the sun, which took up a lot of the time, and plan the rest of their trip through Europe.

On their current course, they could land in Taranto, Italy and offload, and take directly to the road. Then once they got out of the city, they could take the highways north, or go on the smaller roads and see the countryside.

The wind picked up on the second day out from Suez and they made better time than they had expected. Early morning on the third day the GPS alarm went off indicating that they were within 20 miles of their destination.

Shinji, always being a light sleeper awake first, and turned off the alarm, then shook Asuka, who had been wedging her face between his neck and the pillow, until she awoke too. "Hey, we are almost there. Can you come up and help me on deck?"

She grunted her assent, and squinting raised her head. "Ugh, what time is it?"

"Nearly 6:00."

Asuka yawned and complained about the time, then got up and followed Shinji up the stairs. It was already getting light and in the distance they could see a darkening that could very well be their destination.

It still took another two hours to reach the port, and the day had dawned clear and warm. While Shinji brought the sails down and put them away, Asuka engaged the motor, and eased the boat into port. Berthing slips where easy enough to find, and with little difficulty, Asuka maneuvered them into one. Shinji was busily tying the mooring lines down to cleats when Asuka snuck up and jumped him from behind!

"Oooh! I am so excited. It feels like I have been gone for years! Finally back in Europe and just down the road from Germany too!"

Shinji, whose heart rate was starting to come down again grinned. "Just down the road? It is still more than a thousand miles away. But we will get there pretty quick I think. Do you want to take the highways there or go the scenic route?" Shinji finished off the last mooring and they went back below decks.

"Well I kind of want to take it easy, but if you want to get there quick that is fine. It is not that big a deal for me."

"I think I want to go ahead and get there. We can see Europe all we want later on, right?" Asuka nodded, and they started looking through the stored supplies.

Everything had survived without too much mishap. A flashlight had been left on and of course the gas in the motorcycles would have to be treated. It took about an hour to get everything out and unpacked. Asuka stared at her cherry hardwood looking Indian motorcycle. It would feel good to get on the road again, even if it was only for a couple days. Shinji was cinching down the gear to his own motorcycle.

Asuka turned to the boat. "Well boat, I am going to miss you. You brought us a heck of a long way." A long way around the Earth, and a long way in their relationship too.

"You know if you want, we can find someplace to hoist it out of the water or dry dock it or something. We may want to go somewhere else someday." Shinji said looking up from his work.

"No, I have the feeling that we are going to be here for good." She smiled down at him, and finished putting gear on her motorcycle as well. Within an hour they had searched the boat for anything else they wanted, then closed it up, said their goodbyes again, and headed out.

According to the route they had plotted, once they got out of town they could take the A-14, which would turn in the A22 later on. From there the highway would lead them right up to Berlin. From there, Asuka could lead the way into the NERV facility.

And so, leaving their unnamed boat behind, the two set out for their destination by land. It would be roughly 1200 miles, and who knows how the roads had fared. There was little indication of how the winter had been this past year. It was only mid April and already it was starting to get pretty hot.

As their motorcycles roared down the highway, far off in Berlin, a timer was nearing the end of its countdown; only 7 more days. And looking through dimensions unfathomable by mere humans, a pair of red eyes watched calmly as their progress brought them closer to their current goal. It would not be long now.

OooooKaaayyy- That is it for this installment. I can't tell you much about anything right now really. I want to keep it a bit of a surprise. Just tell me how I am doing so far, and please be aware that I want criticisms if you have them. I want to improve, and I am sure there is something I can improve on.

I am in the process of editing and revising the previous chapters (I am on Chapter 5 right now) and have posted the first 4 back to FFN. Things are doing well for me over here in Afghanistan. Not much to report there. Anyhow, I hope that you all stay safe, and come back for the next (read not the last) chapter. Catch you all later!

I went ahead and started speeding it up a bit. If I had kept going the way I was it would have taken like 4 chapters to get them to Italy. And there is only so many times that you can say that they sat there and talked to each other. That gets repetitive.


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